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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man found fatally shot in his driveway in a quiet Northeast Heights neighborhood early Friday may have been killed because he confronted a group of people who were breaking into cars and houses, police said.

Police are waiting for the state Office of the Medical Investigator to confirm the man’s identity before releasing his name, but said he is a 59-year-old homeowner who lived with his wife in the 1400 block of Chihuahua NE, near Lomas and Tramway. Officers arrived at the scene around 3 a.m. to find the man dead.

“Overnight, a group of individuals was breaking into different vehicles throughout the neighborhood,” said officer Tanner Tixier, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department. “At this point, we believe the man went out to confront the individuals and was shot because of that.”

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Tixier said that at least five cars had been broken into overnight and that a man in his 80s who also lives in the neighborhood had been shot at but was not hurt. Police have not found any other witnesses or home security camera video that could help the case and are asking for anyone with more information to come forward. They have no description of the suspects.

“Our only eyewitness is now deceased,” Tixier said. “The other individual that was shot at said there were multiple people, but he couldn’t give us a number, couldn’t give us genders and couldn’t give us ages.”

Tixier said the assailants had been breaking car windows to get to garage door openers, then entering homes. He did not know if the man who was shot had seen the offenders breaking into his own car, someone else’s car, or his house.

Jarrett Truett, who lives in the house next door to the man who was killed, said he believes the same group of people tried to break into his house shortly after 2 a.m. Friday. When the people entered his house, Truett’s roommate said “hi” and scared them away, he said.

“I heard the door open and I heard a scream,” he said. “And then I heard gunshots five minutes later.”

Truett said his roommates didn’t get a good look at the people who had entered their house or see how many were there.

They were too shocked to go outside to investigate when they heard shots, he said.

Another neighbor said he heard two or three gunshots, but assumed they were fireworks and went back to sleep. In the morning, police told him his neighbor had been killed.

“He’s a bartender. He comes home late and walks his dog at night,” said Joe Gaiter, who lives three homes down. “He’s just a good guy, a good neighbor. He talked to everyone.”

Gaiter said he’d chat with the man whenever he saw him working in his front yard or leaving on his motorcycle for work.

He said the man had lived in the neighborhood with his wife for about 10 years, but had put their house up for sale a couple of days ago.

“They said they’re just downgrading,” Gaiter said. “It’s too big, with just him and his wife. They tried to do it last year and didn’t get nothing out of it, so they’re trying again.”

In the 20 years Gaiter has lived in the quiet neighborhood tucked into a maze of streets in the foothills, there has been hardly any crime or cause for concern, he said.

“I’ve been here since ’95, and the only thing that ever happened is some teenagers knocked the mailboxes down one day,” he said. “It’s a quiet area; nothing ever happens. Then this happens.”