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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police tracked down the suspect accused of killing two men outside a Northeast Albuquerque convenience store two weeks ago.

James Alex Chavez, 32, was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center early Saturday morning on two counts of murder in the deaths of James Ronquillo, 24, and Jesus Lopez, 27.

Chavez had been on the loose since Jan. 14, when police say he gunned down both men as they escorted him off the property of a Circle K store and gas station in the early morning hours.

Officers responded to the shooting at Menaul and University around 2 a.m. and found Lopez dead and Ronquillo severely wounded. He later died at a hospital.

Family members said the two men, who were best friends, had gone to the Circle K to get cigarettes and visit Lopez’s older brother, Joseph, an assistant manager at the store.

At the time, police say Chavez had been loitering in the store for a half hour before trying to barter with staff and trade drugs for merchandise.

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Joseph asked Chavez to leave and walked him out to the parking lot, where Lopez and Ronquillo joined him in getting Chavez off the property.

Police say when Chavez got to the corner, he pulled a gun and opened fire on all three men, striking only Lopez and Ronquillo, before running off.

Detectives found Chavez’s fingerprints on a water bottle in the store and other officers were able to identify him in the surveillance footage from previous arrests.

Chavez also had warrants out for failing to report to pretrial services after being charged with stolen vehicle charges and drug possession.