Suspect cops used to justify deadly SWAT standoff has only been charged with violating parole

As it turns out, the suspect Albuquerque police used to justify bombing a home with powder irritants and leaving 15-year-old Brett Rosenau to die of smoke inhalation was not wanted on federal warrants at all, the news nonprofit Source New Mexico reported on Wednesday. In fact, Qiaunt Kelley hasn’t been charged with anything but violating his parole regarding a 2018 carjacking, the nonprofit reported. Albuquerque police initially said in a news release Sunday that Kelley was “wanted for questioning related to the June 26, 2022, shooting death of Leonard Fresquez; an officer-involved shooting on May 5, 2022, at 7604 Central Ave., S.E. in which someone fired an automatic weapon toward officers; and a recent armed robbery being investigated by APD and federal law enforcement.”

Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallego, however, confirmed with the Source that the reference to a federal warrant was a mistake. “There is an ongoing investigation by APD and a federal law enforcement agency that could result in federal charges,” Gallegos said. “I was under the impression on the morning of the incident that the investigation had resulted in a warrant.”

RELATED STORY: 'They started throwing gas bombs': Cops leave teen caught in crosshairs of SWAT standoff to die