A standoff with Albuquerque police on I-40 near Eubank ended with the death of 51-year-old Roman Kirby after a six-hour negotiation attempt.The incident began around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when police received calls about reckless driving, with a vehicle reportedly driving the wrong direction on the on-ramp and hitting several cars.When police arrived, they found the car but not the driver. As they investigated, they received descriptions of a person who had fled the scene and calls about someone waving a firearm. Police later found Kirby armed with a gun near an arroyo. “Our crisis negotiations team attempted 99 phone calls on a phone to this person,” Cecily Barker, the interim police chief for the Albuquerque Police Department, said. During the standoff, Kirby fired his weapon at a police drone and pointed it at officers multiple times. “During this time, we had a drone to assist us while the drone was in the air at one point in time. The subject fired his weapon towards the drone. He waved his weapon several times and pointed it again towards officers,” Barker said. The standoff ended when at least one officer shot and killed Kirby.”We do know that he has a very extensive criminal history dating back to the 1990s. He was recently in prison for 15 years. Released in October of 2025. He should not have had a firearm. His history does include aggravated assault against a police officer, several firearm convictions, trafficking. And we do know that there was an incident where he shot his own father,” Barker said. This is not the first time Kirby has been involved in a law enforcement shooting. He was shot by an Albuquerque officer in 1997 after fleeing from police and shooting a firearm several times.Albuquerque police stated that internal affairs will investigate the shooting to determine whether department policies were followed.
A standoff with Albuquerque police on I-40 near Eubank ended with the death of 51-year-old Roman Kirby after a six-hour negotiation attempt.
The incident began around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when police received calls about reckless driving, with a vehicle reportedly driving the wrong direction on the on-ramp and hitting several cars.
When police arrived, they found the car but not the driver. As they investigated, they received descriptions of a person who had fled the scene and calls about someone waving a firearm. Police later found Kirby armed with a gun near an arroyo.
“Our crisis negotiations team attempted 99 phone calls on a phone to this person,” Cecily Barker, the interim police chief for the Albuquerque Police Department, said.
During the standoff, Kirby fired his weapon at a police drone and pointed it at officers multiple times.
“During this time, we had a drone to assist us while the drone was in the air at one point in time. The subject fired his weapon towards the drone. He waved his weapon several times and pointed it again towards officers,” Barker said.
The standoff ended when at least one officer shot and killed Kirby.
“We do know that he has a very extensive criminal history dating back to the 1990s. He was recently in prison for 15 years. Released in October of 2025. He should not have had a firearm. His history does include aggravated assault against a police officer, several firearm convictions, trafficking. And we do know that there was an incident where he shot his own father,” Barker said.
This is not the first time Kirby has been involved in a law enforcement shooting. He was shot by an Albuquerque officer in 1997 after fleeing from police and shooting a firearm several times.
Albuquerque police stated that internal affairs will investigate the shooting to determine whether department policies were followed.
