{"id":22327,"date":"2025-05-09T18:45:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T18:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/questions-raised-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-farmington\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:12:49","slug":"questions-raised-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-farmington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/questions-raised-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-farmington\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions raised in officer-involved shooting in Farmington"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A Farmington woman on Thursday picked up broken glass after U.S. Marshals fired on a vehicle near Hubbard Road and Copper Avenue. Farmington residents Brandon Roe, 37, and Breanna Wilkerson, 25, were killed. Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record<\/span>Debra Mayeux<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Witnesses and friends have questioned the motives of law enforcement officials after Farmington residents Brandon Roe and Breanna \u201cBree\u201d Wilkerson were shot dead Wednesday along with a terrier mix puppy.<\/p>\n

The injured puppy, who witnesses say was \u201cnot aggressive,\u201d was taken to the Farmington Regional Animal Shelter, where it was euthanized, according to San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office spokeswoman Rebekah Click.<\/p>\n

According to a news release from the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Roe, 37, and the puppy were in a vehicle reportedly driven by Wilkerson, 25.<\/p>\n

The release stated that Wilkerson was driving toward officials from the U.S. Marshals Service when the marshals opened fire on her. Witnesses disputed the claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were trying to leave, not run them over,\u201d said Ellay Douglas, who lives at 4004 Copper Ave. \u201cThe car was parked, and they were trying to leave, and the cops just shot them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douglas and others at the scene said no one in the vehicle was armed, and according to the news release from the Sheriff\u2019s Office, no law enforcement agents were injured.<\/p>\n

Witnesses and friends told the Tri-City Record<\/em> on May 8 that Wilkerson and Roe will be missed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was like a little sister to me,\u201d Douglas said of Wilkerson. \u201cShe had just barely started her life. She had plans to go to college. She lit up our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucas Gallegos, a friend and witness, called Wilkerson a \u201csweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Irvin, a friend and witness, added that Roe \u201cwasn\u2019t a violent person. He had a really kind soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkerson did not have a criminal record, other than petty misdemeanor traffic violations cleared July 5, 2023, by San Juan County Magistrate Court.<\/p>\n

\"Breanna
Breanna \u201cBree\u201d Wilkerson, 25, of Farmington, was shot and killed May 7 by U.S. Marshals near the intersection of Hubbard Road and Copper Avenue.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Brandon
Brandon Roe, 37, was shot and killed May 7 when U.S. Marshals were serving a warrant for his arrest.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The U.S. Marshals Service, with assistance from the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office, was serving warrants on Roe. He was wanted for failing to appear in court for 2022 charges of aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer, a fourth-degree felony. Additionally, there was a warrant for failure to comply for a 2022 charge of fourth-degree felony commercial burglary.<\/p>\n

The Tri-City Record<\/em> made an Inspection of Public Records Act request on May 9 to the U.S. Marshals Service seeking copies of the warrant or warrants issued for the apprehension and detention of Roe.<\/p>\n

A request to the U.S. Marshals Service also was made for any correspondence and emails regarding the warrants, apprehension, detention and shooting deaths of Roe and Wilkerson. The date range for the emails was Feb. 20, the date the warrant was issued, to May 9, the day after the Sheriff\u2019s Office opened an investigation into the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure (Roe) was trying to get away. He didn\u2019t want to be caught,\u201d Irvin said. \u201cHe knew what he was getting into; she did not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallegos said, Wilkerson \u201cwas worried about him taking off in her car.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Broken
Broken glass and a tire track from where a vehicle driven by Breanna Wilkerson, 25, of Farmington reportedly backed into the wall after U.S. Marshals fired shots into it May 7, killing Wilkerson and Brandon Roe, 37, of Farmington.<\/span>Debra Mayeux<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

According to reports from the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Roe was attempting to get in the driver\u2019s seat when U.S. Marshals fired at the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Douglas said she believes she heard \u201c18 shots\u201d that night. \u201cIt sounded like a firework going off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey shot the whole car,\u201d Irvin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty brutal,\u201d Gallegos said. \u201cI feel like they came for blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crystal Cooper, another friend of Roe\u2019s, claimed in a Jan. 29 statement published online at OpenPR<\/a> that the Sheriff\u2019s Office was \u201chunting down\u201d Roe, and that \u201cif anything happens to Brandon Roe, the Sheriff\u2019s Office is responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody here was aggressive,\u201d Gallegos said, adding, \u201cThey put all of us in handcuffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey treated us really cruel,\u201d said Gallegos, who recently had open-heart surgery. \u201cThey could have treated us different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tri-City Record<\/em> made an IPRA request to the Sheriff\u2019s Office for incident reports, investigatory documents, in-car video, photographs and body-cam footage with regard to the shooting deaths of Roe and Wilkerson.<\/p>\n

Cooper believed that Roe was being targeted because of his alleged involvement with a Region II Narcotics Agent and because he was \u201cadvocating for the inmate population\u201d at the San Juan County Detention Center.<\/p>\n

Cooper mentioned in the online post that detainee Bryan Harris \u201cnearly died\u201d after being left without water in his cell for three days.<\/p>\n

She said also Roe had \u201cpictures of moldy and spoiled food being served to a friend,\u201d inside the facility, and the jail administrator was contacted and \u201cgave his promise to resolve any issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tri City Record<\/em> made an IPRA request for documentation of any verbal or written complaint made by Roe or Harris against the staff, management and food service of the San Juan County Detention Center, as well as any general complaint made by the two individuals against the detention center.<\/p>\n

Any emails or correspondence between county officials, staff and management at the San Juan County Detention Center concerning detainees Roe and Harris also was requested.<\/p>\n

Cooper, however, in her \u201crelease\u201d made incorrect statements, claiming the detention center is a \u201cprivately owned jail,\u201d and it is not. The jail is run by San Juan County.<\/p>\n

Cooper also claimed that Roe had \u201call charges dropped, cases dismissed without prejudice and probation terminated,\u201d which according to court records, was not accurate.<\/p>\n

Roe was on probation for the 2022 charges, yet his 2023 charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a controlled substance and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer were dismissed Dec. 30, by Assistant District Attorney Jules Grandjean, who wrote in the court record, it was \u201cin the best interest of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Witnesses and friends claim Brandon Roe, Breanna Wilkerson were targeted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77664,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22327\/revisions\/77664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22327"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}