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Copyright © 2018 Albuquerque Journal

Liz Hewitt can barely find the words.

Her dog Bartleby was killed by an armed robbery suspect who ran through her backyard on Wednesday evening, minutes before an officer caught up with the suspect in a neighbor’s backyard and fatally shot him.

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“It’s been very traumatic,” Hewitt said. “We believe Bartleby started barking and going for the man when he shot him.”

She said the 11-year-old Labrador and shepherd mix was protecting the children in the house, and she and her family are devastated over the loss of their furry companion.

“Bartleby was a very gentle and loving dog who would never harm a soul … until it came to protecting his kids that were in the house,” Hewitt said. “We want him remembered as a hero and loving family member.”

Their home is located near Kiowa and Colorado NE.

Police say the gunshot that killed Bartleby alerted nearby officers, and they quickly found the man in an adjacent backyard, sparking an altercation that ended with an officer firing at the suspect. The suspect died.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos declined to identify the suspect or the officer who shot him and would not say how many times the officer fired, or if the suspect fired at the officer. Nor would he elaborate on the “altercation” between the two.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” he said.

Another APD spokesman, Simon Drobik, said the situation began Wednesday afternoon when a woman called 911 around 4:30 p.m. to report that she had been robbed at gunpoint near Comanche and San Mateo NE.

He said arriving officers saw a man who matched the suspect’s description fleeing east up the nearby arroyo.

Drobik said pursuing officers heard gunfire soon after the man disappeared into the backyards of the neighborhood near Kiowa and Colorado NE.

“Officers began searching the immediate area … and engaged in an altercation with the male,” he said. “At least one officer fired shots and the unknown male was pronounced deceased on scene.”

Police say a weapon was found near the suspect after the shooting.

This is the eighth shooting by Albuquerque police this year and the fifth that proved fatal.

APD has not identified the suspects or officers involved in the four police shootings that have happened since early October.

By Thursday afternoon, no sign of Wednesday’s chaotic scene remained and the streets were quiet.

Neighbors came and went, many of them saying they had gathered details on the shooting here and there from news reports but didn’t know much else.

Gordon Byers said he and his wife hadn’t known anything was going on until two officers with large rifles knocked on their front door.

“They said someone was crawling through backyards, and we should leave if we can,” he said.

Byers said the couple was getting ready to do just that when they heard “at least four” gunshots close by.

“At that point we decided to stay put,” he said.

Byers said the neighborhood was locked down afterward, with a mobile crime lab parked across the street and a dizzying array of red and blue lights flickering off the curtains for several hours.