The video shows what led to police shooting a man already in custody

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque police are still reconstructing what led to an officer killing a handcuffed man in custody last week.

Police have identified that man as Matthew Garcia. Court records show an extensive criminal history.

Police said they took Garcia into custody at Tewa Lodge on Friday for an alleged drug bust.

But police say Garcia was combative and they admit they put him in a police vehicle without fully patting him down.

“While they were handcuffing the individual, they began to search him and the individual became very combative. We have asked our officers to de-escalate the situation and avoid the use of force. So they put that person in the car as quickly as possible to resolve further issues,” said APD Chief Harold Medina.

They say at no time did Garcia tell officers he was armed. Police also said that about 45 minutes later, an officer noticed Garcia trying to reach for a gun he had on his hip.

Police describe what happened next as a “wrestling match” before Garcia was shot.

Medina also addressed the arrests of protesters who showed up Friday evening. He says they tried to get to the scene and forced investigators to leave the scene to help officers with crowd control.

Police arrested Shawn Kenny and Emery Schmidt. The officers were reportedly trying to arrest Kenny when Schmidt hit one of them.

Medina revealed that Schmidt has had problems with officials in the past.

“Don’t hit my officers. If you strike my officers, I expect them to arrest you and take you to jail, and we will make sure we present all the evidence we can to the prosecutor’s office so that you are prosecuted,” Medina said. “This individual was also arrested at another protest at the University of New Mexico earlier this year. I hope that the courts and the DA’s office take a look at this individual and his release conditions and realize that these individuals are the ones who are giving the protesters a bad name.”

Medina was referring to when protesters occupied the UNM Student Union building in April over the war in Gaza.

Back last week, protesters told KOB 4 that the situation escalated when APD moved against them.

The video shows the arrest of a protester in this cell phone video. Protesters claim police walked on their side of the yellow line.

“We demand that these charges be dropped because no one attacked a police officer. On the other hand, we were all treated brutally. We have injuries all over our bodies,” said Selinda Guerrero, a protester.

Court records show Kenney and Schmidt have since been released from prison.