Police officer who shot at minivan full of children FIRED following internal investigation

New Mexico State Police Officer Elias Montoya was fired Friday following an internal investigation into his actions on October 28



Dash cam footage showed him shooting at a minivan full of children after a traffic stop



The mother who was driving the car, 39-year-old Oriana Farrell, says she was fleeing to protect her children from the officer



The New Mexico State Police officer who fired shots at a minivan full of children during a chaotic October traffic stop has been fired as its revealed that he was a mentor in a nonviolence program.

New Mexico State Police spokesman Lt Emmanuel Gutierrez says he confirmed with State Police Chief Pete Kassetas that Officer Elias Montoya is no longer employed by the department. His termination was effective at 5pm Friday.

Montoya has 30 days to appeal his firing to a public safety advisory council.

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Sacked: Elias Montoya, the officer that shot at a minivan full of children, was fired Friday from the New Mexico State Police

The officer was placed on administrative leave earlier this week following an investigation into the shooting outside the northern New Mexico tourist town of Taos.

Video from a police cruiser's dashboard camera taken October 28 showed Montoya shooting at the minivan as a Memphis, Tennessee, woman drove away. The motorist, 39-year-old Oriana Farrell, had been stopped for speeding and fled twice after arguing with an officer.

Montoya's dangerous reaction to Farrell's flight is strange considering he is a father himself, and had been a mentor to young men in a local nonviolence program.

Appeal: Montoya has 30 days to appeal his firing with the public safety advisory council

A 2010 Taos News article called Montoya a 'devoted father' in an article about the local Men Engaged in Nonviolence Program.

At the time, Montoya was a 'model mentor' to a 10-year-old boy in the program.

'My dad was a minister and things were expected of you. he taught me how to be responsible,' Montoya told the paper of his late father. 'If he can't get something from his dad, I want to be the person he can have confidence in.

According to the article, Montoya taught his mentee how to play pool and took him to football games.

'They matched him with me because he wants to be a cop. I hope I can help him reach his goals,' Montoya said.

Last month, Ms Farrell had her own account in the Taos News, giving an account of the dramatic traffic stop in October in which she claimed that she was only trying to protect her children from Montoya.



Mother's instinct: Oriana Farrell, the woman who was driving the minivan, told the Taos News that she was just trying to protect her children

'A uniformed officer can shoot three bullets at my van and be considered to be “doing his job”, but my doing what I can to get my own children away from such a terrifying individual has been termed “child abuse” and “endangerment,” according to New Mexico law,' she wrote.



Calling herself a 'peace officer,' Farrell writes: 'As a single, African-American mother of five in this country, things are tough enough I should not have to endure harassment at the hands of someone who has been hired to protect the citizens of this land over an alleged “speeding offense.” No one should.'

The traffic stop took place south of Taos, New Mexico, on October 28 - but it sparked local outrage after the video from a state police dashboard camera went public.

Footage shows the officer casually walk up to the vehicle and begin speaking with the driver.

When the officer walks away, presumably to run the license and registration and decide whether to write a ticket, the van takes off.

Coming to mom's rescue: At one point in the video, Ms Farrell's 14-year-old son is seen getting out of the vehicle to defend her

A short chase ensues before the driver again relents and the van makes its way to the side of the road.

The officer at this point has had enough. He storms up to and opens the driver’s side door while ordering the driver out of the vehicle.

She refuses and a struggle ensues as children inside the Ford can be heard screaming.

The driver’s son, 14, according to ABC News, gets out of the van but thinks better of the idea as the cop pulls a Taser on him.

Ms Farrell does eventually exit the vehicle and gets into a physical confrontation with the officer while he tries to arrest her.

Cuffed: The officer moves to arrest Ms Farrell in front of her children



That's it: Having seen enough, the teen jumps out of the car to confront the officer

At this point, the teen appears to attack the cop as Ms Farrell is at once being pulled back into the van by a screaming younger girl and being pulled into the middle of the road by the cop.

The teen and the officer tussle before he runs back into the van as more police arrives to assist the over-matched officer.



The primary officer is then shown smashing the right rear passenger window with his baton as petrified children trapped inside the van scream for help.

Ms Farrell has had enough, she slams on the gas and drives away as a second officer opens fire on the back of her van – emptying multiple rounds in the direction of young children.

A frantic chase through wrong-way traffic and a small town ensues before Ms Farrell finally gives herself up in front of a hotel.

Multiple arrests: The teen can be seen led away in handcuffs in the foreground as his mother lie arrested on the sidewalk behind him

Both she and her son are seen being led away in handcuffs.

The Taos News' editor said the paper does not usually publish op-ed pieces pertaining to ongoing legal cases, but made an exception in this case because of the huge public interest in the case.



According to ABC News, she was charged with five counts of abuse of a child, aggravated fleeing an officer, resisting an officer, reckless driving and possession of drug paraphernalia. Her 14-year-old son was charged with battery of an officer. No word yet on whether the charges against Ms Farrell and her son will be dropped following the officer's dismissal.

