The aerial drone footage shows one of the boys struggling to hold the weapon steady, with neither child seeming to understand the gravity of the situation.
In bodycam footage from surrounding deputies, officers can be heard desperately urging the children to drop the gun. “Put it down, babe,” one officer pleads. “You’re not in trouble but you have to put it down and come talk to us.”
As the boys continued to hold the weapon, deputies debated whether to rush in or fire a non-lethal round to de-escalate the situation.
Eventually, two rubber bullets were fired, but the children still refused to let go of the firearm. It wasn’t until an officer rushed in and safely seized the weapon that the situation was resolved.
Sheriff John Allen of Bernalillo County explained the severity of the situation: “Had that gun gone off, our deputies could have taken deadly force. That would not have gone well with anybody in the nation.”
