The suspect who allegedly shot a person after the accident was arrested

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police arrested a suspect accused of shooting a man in the back following a crash in northeast Albuquerque on Tuesday.

Albuquerque police officers responded to reports of a crash and shooting in the area of ​​Comanche Road, just west of Eubank Boulevard, around 11:20 a.m. Tuesday. They found a man with a gunshot wound, who was taken to the hospital by paramedics.

At the hospital, the man told police that he was shot by a woman in a truck that he said rear-ended his vehicle. He said he pulled out his gun after realizing he was recording himself and the person he was with. He said he then grabbed the gun, removed the magazine and walked away before hearing two gunshots.

Witnesses told police the man approached the woman aggressively and told her they couldn’t leave.

Investigators said the woman, identified as Heather Lopez, turned herself in after a family member recognized the truck and associated it with her in a news report.

Lopez told investigators he was traveling in the truck with friends at the time of the crash. He allegedly said that the driver and another friend ran away while he and his other friend stayed.

Lopez said similar things as a witness in his interview, but stated that he warned the man about his gun “several times” and that he would use the gun if he continued to approach him. Later, when he picked up the gun, investigators said he allegedly pulled out a second gun and shot her “out of fear” while it was facing him.

However, investigators determined that the gunshots struck him in the lower back, confirming the man’s story that he took out the magazine and walked away.

Lopez faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon.

MORE: Police investigating crash reportedly linked to shooting in northeast Albuquerque