A dispute over a reported stolen excavator ended in a fatal shooting on January 19, 2025, in Albuquerque. Around 11:00 AM a caller said he was following his brother’s stolen excavator being towed by a white Ford F-250. That pursuit stopped near 201 Prosperity Avenue SE when the F-250, itself later determined to be stolen, crashed into another vehicle.

Deputies found 40-year-old Isidro Omar Ramirez unconscious in the driver’s seat of the stolen truck with at least one gunshot wound. Despite life-saving efforts by deputies, Ramirez was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators located a revolver in Ramirez’s waistband and recovered several spent .45 caliber casings near Prince Street SE and Prosperity Avenue SE, plus a 1911-style handgun on the hood of a nearby Chevrolet Silverado.

Authorities detained Miguel Varela, the brother of the man who reported the excavator, after witnesses say Varela confronted Ramirez about the theft. Varela told investigators he believed Ramirez was reaching for a weapon and fired multiple shots as Ramirez attempted to flee; he was arrested and booked on a charge of second-degree murder. Multiple other people at the scene were detained for questioning as the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit continues its investigation.