A reserve deputy with the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department has been cleared in the October 2017 shooting death of a woman who reportedly armed herself with a splitting maul after attempting to barricade herself inside a storage building.
The Third Judicial District Attorney’s office is declining to prosecute Sergio Gotbeter, 47, in the shooting. Gotbeter had been placed on administrative leave since the Oct. 31 incident.
Reserve deputies are volunteer officers with the department and do not receive financial compensation. Gotbeter has been with the department since 2014.
According to the investigation, 37-year-old Heather Bubrig of New Orleans, LA was a passenger in a white 2016 Chevrolet crew cab pickup, reportedly driven by her 51-year-old boyfriend, also from Louisiana.
The couple was traveling westbound on Interstate 10 near milepost 135 when the boyfriend said he pulled over. Bubrig reportedly had exited the vehicle and was attempting to walk into traffic. The boyfriend said he tried to contain her, but she resisted.
Two phone calls were made by passersby to 911, each reporting a physical altercation happening between a man and a woman.
Bubrig then reportedly fled, and the boyfriend drove away and called 911.
Just before 9 p.m., two additional calls were made to 911, one from a homeowner in the 5500 block of La Pradera Road who said a woman – later identified as Bubrig – had entered his home, claiming that someone was trying to kill her. The second call was from a resident in the 5400 block of La Pradera Road, who said a woman matching Bubrig’s description was inside a shed on the caller’s property.
Several officers – including two sheriff’s deputies, Gotbeter, and an officer from the Mesilla Marshal’s office – arrived on La Pradera Road and approached the shed. Bubrig reportedly came out of the shed armed with a wood-splitting maul.
Bubrig was asked numerous times to drop the weapon and get on the ground, but she never complied.
According to deputies, Bubrig closed distance on the reserve deputy, who fired two rounds toward her. One round struck her torso. The other round ricocheted off the maul and grazed her upper arm. Crime scene investigators determined the distance between Bubrig and Gotbeter was approximately five feet.
Despite all life-saving efforts, Bubrig was pronounced dead at the scene. Her body was transported to the University of New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner for autopsy.
The incident was investigated by the Officer-Involved Incident Task Force, which includes investigators with the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, the Las Cruces Police Department, New Mexico State Police and New Mexico State University Police.
After a review of the case by Third Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio and his staff, it was determined that Gotbeter acted in accordance with the law and no criminal intent was evident.
“The facts of this case as presented are clear; Mr. Gotbeter perceived a threat on his life and the lives of the officers who were with him,” D’Antonio said after the review. “This situation, although tragic for all involved, does not meet the criminal element for prosecution.”
Doña Ana County Sheriff Enrique “Kiki” Vigil said he was pleased with the decision.
“These cases are some of the most difficult to investigate,” Vigil remarked. “The end result is one that we hope never happens, but our jobs as peacekeepers means making tough decisions in split seconds.”
Information from Dona Ana County