By Roger Lanse

Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, at about 2:01 a.m., a Bayard Police Department officer responded to the Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, NM, in reference to a male with a gunshot wound to his left leg. According to a BPD incident report, the officer spoke to the victim, Leandro Dominguez, 64, of Bayard, at GRMC.

Dominguez stated, the report said, that as he was getting ready to go to bed, the gun, a .38 Special Smith & Wesson revolver, fell from a top shelf and went off. Dominguez stated the revolver had just one cartridge in it, and he wasn't sure how it fell. According to the report, Dominguez thought possibly the belt of the robe he was wearing might have caught the weapon as he bent over to lower the heater.

Neither did he realize at the time that he had been hit, he said. He also said the revolver had not been cocked, "because it was on the shelf."

Dominguez was taken to GRMC by his brother and when asked by the officer to explain just what happened again, his account was consistent except he stated the weapon was on the counter and fell onto a nearby table and then went off.

An entrance wound was observed by the officer on the outside of Dominguez' left thigh above the knee. No exit wound was observed. A GRMC nurse, according to the report, indicated, "the bullet travelled down Leandro's (Dominguez') leg and was currently facing back up toward the kneecap."

The brother told the officer that Dominguez just got back from visiting his kids in Albuquerque and getting his blood transfusions as he has cancer. The brother was allowed to keep the handgun and advised to notify BPD if the victim makes any statements relating to harming himself.