Patrolman Ronald Edwin Shores

Ronald Edwin Shores

Patrolman Ronald Shores was struck and killed by a fleeing vehicle while manning a roadblock on State Road 3. Deputies from the Taos County Sheriff's Department were pursuing a stolen car and requested assistance from the Questa Police Department. Patrolman Shores had positioned his car across both lanes of a two-lane bridge. The suspect's vehicle struck the patrol car and then struck Patrolman Shores, killing him.

The 20-year-old man, a diagnosed schizophrenic, fled on foot but was apprehended a short time later. He was sent to a state mental hospital to determine his sanity. On February 22, 1979, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 5 years probation. Conditions of his probation were that he be transferred to a Pennsylvania mental hospital so he could be near his mother. He was to remain in the hospital until medical professionals said he could leave.

Patrolman Shores, a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a crewman on the USS Denebola AF56, had been with the agency for four months and was survived by his wife, son, and father.