Local man fatally shot by deputy

A Tucumcari man was fatally shot by a Quay County sheriff's deputy during a hostage situation June 19 in Tucumcari.

Robert Roybal, 55, was killed by a single shot fired just after 4:50 a.m. A release from the New Mexico State Police said Roybal had spent more than an hour holding a knife to the throat of another man in the residence on the 1300 block of South Seventh Street.

According to the release:

• Tucumcari Police officers first arrived on the scene around 3:30 a.m. to find Roybal holding the male victim hostage, and the man had been stabbed.

• Officers attempted to negotiate with Roybal, but he kept the knife up to the hostage's neck.

• A NMSP officer arrived and could see Roybal through a bedroom window. The officer fired a shot through the window that didn't hit anybody.

• A Quay County Sheriff's deputy who came to aid in negotiation efforts fired a single shot at Roybal as the knife was pushed harder against the hostage's neck. The deputy rescued the victim, who was taken to on-scene paramedics.

The NMSP does not plan to name the hostage, and will not name involved law enforcement until the investigation is complete.