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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico authorities are offering the first inside look at a wild chase on I-40 that occurred earlier this month.
New Mexico State Police released dash-cam Monday of the video and radio recordings of officers trying to stop a stolen school bus speeding toward Albuquerque.
On the morning of March 9, New Mexico State Police, Albuquerque Police, Bernalillo County Deputies and other law enforcement agencies had only seconds to react and figure out what was going on with the stolen school bus.
Investigators said the driver, 27-year-old Nathaniel Shipman, stole the bus from the bus yard in Albuquerque and then drove it to Grants, about 80 miles west.
They said when he was spotted there, he turned back toward Albuquerque. It was after 6:30 a.m. and the city was in morning rush hour. State police had to act fast.
Multiple agencies put together a plan to stop the bus in its tracks. Shipman barreled right through several spike strips, eventually driving the bus on bare rims.
As he was entering the outskirts of Albuquerque, police were running out of time and had to try something more extreme. A State Police officer used his car to try to stop the bus for almost 30 miles but the bus was too big.
The chase entered Albuquerque and was approaching the city's most congested area before a State Police SUV finally was able to stop Shipman. Police said once he was stopped, Shipman kept revving the engine and State Police started firing bean-bag shots.
In the video, a Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputy could be seen opening fire with his gun. Seconds later, it appears as if a State Police officer is shouting at him.
Shipman emerged from the bus in his boxers and bloody. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
No weapons were found on Shipman. He is being held with no bond and is facing several charges. So far there is no official word on his mental health status.
The deputy who fired the shots was put on paid administrative leave.
