The man who police killed after an hours-long standstill of I-40 is part of a growing debate in our state.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The man who police killed after an hours-long standstill on I-40 is part of a growing debate in our state.
Roman Kirby was a felon with a gun, and that’s the scenario lawmakers are looking at during this 30-day session.
On Wednesday, Albuquerque police identified Kirby as the man who allegedly threatened officers with a gun, causing a five-hour-long SWAT situation near I-40 and Eubank Tuesday.
According to court records, Kirby has a criminal history in our state going back to the 1990s. APD Interim Chief Cecily Barker shared just a bit of the violent past Tuesday night after officers killed him.
“He was recently in prison for 15 years released in October of 2025. He should not have had a firearm. His history does include aggravated assault against a police officer, several firearm convictions, trafficking and we do know there was an incident where he shot his own father,” Barker said.
The incident Barker is referencing is from 2010 and the reason he spent 15 years in a federal prison. Kirby was a convicted felon when he shot his father, which is why he received a hefty sentence.
But on Tuesday, APD said he once again had a gun just about three months after leaving prison and wouldn’t leave an arroyo on I-40.
KOB 4 crews on scene heard officers repeatedly tell him to drop his weapon. Barker also said crisis negotiators tried to call him 99 times.
He was also believed to be intoxicated and allegedly caused a crash before the standoff. APD said Kirby fired at least one shot at a police drone and officers didn’t fire any weapons until hours later, around 10:30 p.m.
The multi-agency task force is investigating the shooting along with APD’s Internal Affairs Unit.
The fact that Kirby, a convicted felon, has had a weapon more than once and committed violent crimes is an issue our lawmakers say they want to fix.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) agrees. In fact, on opening day of the legislative session, she called for tougher consequences on repeat felons who had guns during her State of the State address.
“Violence is disproportionately perpetrated by repeat felon offenders, and we must, right now, hold them accountable. You know how we could do that? In addition to increased penalties? Why don’t we have pretrial detention like the federal model that keeps suspects charged with violent crimes behind bars while they wait trial,” Lujan Grisham said.
Four legislators from both parties are trying to fix that through House Bill 49. If passed, there would be harsher penalties for felons who have a gun on them when committing a violent crime.
The first offense would be a second-degree felony charge with at least nine years in prison. Second offenses and any after would be considered a first-degree felony.
The bill was supposed to be debated in the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday night, but they didn’t get around to it. We’re told it’ll be heard Friday or Saturday.
