New Mexico Governor Says National Guard Making Progress in High-Crime Albuquerque

Three months into Operation Zia Shield, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office cited successful collaboration between the military and law enforcement.

Crime scene technicians investigate the parking lot at Young Park after Friday night's fatal shooting in Las Cruces, N.M., on March 22, 2025. Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—In the shade of a tall fence along Central Avenue, a group of homeless people lingered in Albuquerque’s troubled International District as three squad cars and a medical vehicle swept onto the scene.

Police and first responders moved in quickly, scattering the group as a homeless woman began shouting epithets from the middle of the street.