HATCH, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico authorities say an Arizona man shot and wounded by an officer during a barricade situation along Interstate 25 reportedly abducted his wife in Louisiana and threatened to kill his 7-year-old son during the standoff Wednesday.
A State Police statement released Wednesday night said the wife of 39-year-old James Kirkland of Kingman bolted from the vehicle when it stopped Wednesday on I-25 following a pursuit begun after the vehicle bypassed a Border Patrol checkpoint by driving northbound in southbound lanes.
The statement said New Mexico officers weren't aware during the incident that the couple was under investigation by the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office in an unspecified Louisiana matter and that the wife had communicated to her employer that Kirkland had kidnapped her.
Kirkland remained hospitalized. Nobody else was injured.
