New Mexico State Police Officer Justin Hare, 35, was shot and killed on March 15, 2024, after stopping to assist a motorist on Interstate 40 near milepost 318, west of Tucumcari. Officer Hare approached a white BMW whose driver, later identified as 32-year-old Jaremy Alexander Smith of Marion, South Carolina, had a flat tire. After a brief conversation Hare offered the driver a ride. Without warning, Smith pulled a firearm and shot Hare, then fired again at the patrol vehicle’s driver side before forcing Hare into the passenger seat and driving off in the patrol car.

Hare’s vehicle was later seen being driven at high speed along the frontage road and crashed near milepost 304; Smith fled on foot and the car was found empty. Officer Hare was located near milepost 312, taken to Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari, and pronounced dead at 7:21 AM. A manhunt led to Smith’s arrest on March 17, 2024, after a deputy-involved shooting in Southwest Albuquerque; he was hospitalized after being shot multiple times. Authorities charged Smith with first-degree murder, armed robbery, carjacking resulting in death, and related firearms offenses, and said he would not face the death penalty.

Officer Hare, a six-year veteran of the New Mexico State Police, is survived by his girlfriend, two young children, his parents, and his brother. Does anyone have information about the events around milepost 318 on the morning of March 15?