Rio Rancho police investigate shooting that injured one person on Hills Trail

Rio Rancho police were investigating a shooting on Hills Trail in Sandoval County that left one person injured, and officers had not identified a suspect, a motive or any arrest. Police also had not said whether there was any continuing danger to nearby residents.

The shooting unfolded on a named neighborhood street, which immediately raised concern for people who live and travel through that part of Rio Rancho. Hills Trail is the kind of corridor where residents expect routine traffic, not gunfire, and the lack of details about where the shots were fired, inside a home or outdoors, left the scene’s exact footprint unclear.

The case added to a recent run of gun-related calls that have kept attention on public safety in Rio Rancho. On Jan. 11, 2025, officers were sent to the 7000 block of Albany Hills Dr. for a domestic violence call. The caller told police that Audelio Lopez was striking a woman and pulling her hair, and officers said Lopez fled on foot while facing an active felony warrant.

Another shooting near Enchanted Hills Blvd and Bismark Hills Way also put officers on the scene in the city’s north side. In that case, a man was shot and taken to a local hospital after a reported domestic violence incident. The location put the violence near the Enchanted Hills neighborhood, another part of Rio Rancho where residents have been watching closely for signs of escalating gunfire.

Those episodes show how quickly a call in a residential area can turn into a shooting investigation, with detectives left to sort out witnesses, the sequence of events and whether anyone else remains at risk. In the Hills Trail case, the most important unanswered questions were still basic ones: who fired, why the person was hurt and whether police were looking for anyone in connection with the shooting.

Rio Rancho has also had to confront officer-involved shootings under outside review before. On Jan. 31, 2023, the New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau was contacted to investigate an officer-involved shooting involving the Rio Rancho Police Department, a reminder that every gunfire call in the city can quickly raise questions about both immediate danger and accountability.