Sheriff's deputy involved in shooting is Clovis native

CARNUEL — A Texas sheriff's deputy visiting his grandmother in New Mexico fatally shot a homeless man armed with a hatchet in what authorities have termed a self defense shooting.

Raymond Romero Jr., 48, of Lubbock, discovered the man allegedly squatting on his grandmother's property in Carnuel on Saturday. The shooting was apparently in self defense, Bernalillo County Sheriff's spokeswoman Erin Kinnard Thompson said.

A little more than 2 years ago, Romero retired after 20 years of service with the Clovis Fire Department.

Fire Chief Ray Westerman said Romero, a Clovis native, was a paramedic with the department.

Romero has been a detention officer with the Lubbock County Sheriff's Department for about two years, according to a report in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal.

Romero has not been charged in the case, which will be reviewed by the Bernalillo County district attorney's office, Thompson said.

Thompson said she could not release the name of the victim because deputies have been unable to locate his relatives.