Police Officer Horst Harold Woods

Horst Harold Woods

Police Officer Horst Woods was shot and killed while approaching a man who was kneeling down beside his patrol car at the New Mexico VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As Officer Woods approached the man from the opposite side of the vehicle, the man stood up. The two exchanged words and then the man raised his left arm and shot at Officer Woods. As Officer Woods turned away, he was struck once in the back of the head.

The man then kept responding officers and rescue personnel from reaching Officer Woods. After a 20-minute standoff, the man surrendered to members of United States Air Force Security Police. The man was found with two extra fully loaded magazines, an 18-inch bowie knife, and a long-barreled Derringer loaded with two shotgun shells.

Officer Woods was a U.S. Navy veteran and had served with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police Department for eight months. He is survived by his wife and two children.