Las Cruces police share bodycam video of the officer-involved shooting that killed a 50-year-old man outside of a Chili’s restaurant on Thursday, adding the man had a history of mental illness.
In a press conference held on Tuesday morning at Las Cruces City Hall, Jeremy Story, the chief of the Las Cruces Police Department, shared bodycam video that shows suspect Philip Adrian Mulin, armed with a hammer, walking toward a police officer moments before he is shot and killed.
RELATED: Police investigation underway after deadly officer-involved shooting at Las Cruces Chili’s
The shooting happened on Thursday, Oct. 9, at around 6 p.m. at the parking lot of the Chili’s restaurant, located on the 400 block of South Telshor Boulevard, after police received two calls regarding a man armed with a hammer and a knife threatening customers.
Callers described the suspect and the weapons he was carrying, adding that he was driving a silver Honda car.
In the video, you can see the responding officers walk past the parked silver Honda and go for the door of the restaurant before turning around and meeting the suspect, Mulin, who appears to be just sitting behind the wheel of the car with the windows down, listening to music.
The officer then approaches him, asking him to,
Step out of the car.
The officer opens the car door, and at this point, you can see Mulin reach for something and climb out of the car with a claw hammer in his right hand.
The officer pulls out his gun and aims it at Mulin as Mulin appears to walk towards the officer, disregarding orders to,
At this point, the officer pulls the trigger three times, hitting the suspect three times in the chest, according to Story.
The officer yells,
Get down on the ground– GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!
And you can see in the video, Mulin falls on the concrete.
Then, you can see in the video, the officer runs to provide Mulin life-saving measures as back-up arrives and more officers help out.
Ultimately, Mulin is pronounced dead on the scene.
According to Story, Mulin forced the responding officers to walk back around 60 feet before the officer pulled the trigger.
Besides the bodycam, Story shared information regarding things that happened before the shooting, including that Mulin apparently had a history of struggling with mental illness.
According to Story, on the day of the shooting, Mulin had been allegedly seen at around 10:42 a.m., visiting a local gun store and asking for the “cheapest” gun they had.
Story said that Mulin didn’t end up buying anything and left after browsing.
Then, according to Story, at around 4:15 p.m., police received calls regarding a man attacking his neighbor’s car with a machete.
Story said that by the time officers arrived, the man with the machete was gone, but according to their investigation, Story believes it was Mulin.
Knife allegedly belonging to suspect Philip Adrian Mulin and found by officers after the deadly shooting. Oct. 9, 2025. Credit: LCPD
Furthermore, Story explained that after the shooting, investigators found Mulin had a history of mental illness and encounters with the police.
However, none of those encounters with LCPD ever resulted in an arrest, adding that it was regarding welfare checks or calls of a man raving madly on his front porch.
When asked if LCPD had spoken with the family about maybe something triggering Mulin that day, Story said they couldn’t comment and only reiterated that Mulin had struggles.
Story also addressed a question concerning an officer’s use of lethal versus non-lethal force.
