ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars for shooting and killing a man accused of shoplifting. While Derek Pickett was armed, his family argues he only pointed his gun at himself when he was shot by an officer.
“You have a man who is in a mental health crisis who has a gun raised to his head, who is then shot by police,” said Derek Pickett’s family’s attorney Shannon Kennedy.
It was back in August of 2024. Surveillance video shows 44-year-old Derek Pickett run out of a family dollar on Broadway near Coal. The Albuquerque Police Department said he had nearly $50 worth of stolen goods. Officers chased Pickett who eventually hid out in a shed near Lead and Arno…