‘He is a hero’: Could a witness who refused to talk to police exonerate shooter?

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – When he heard screaming and saw strangers on his property, an Albuquerque man took matters into his own hands, shooting at the trespassers multiple times. Where the intruders were when he fired landed the homeowner in jail. But a KRQE Investigation reveals there’s another victim police never interviewed, and what she says has many questioning if the shooter should be let off the hook.

On October 13, 2025, Albuquerque police responded to a home near Central Avenue and 98^th Street for two people lying in the street. Officers located a man shot in the leg and a woman with a head injury.

The man shot pointed to Isai Rivas-Torres standing in his driveway and yelled to the police, “That guy right in that house got me!” Before the officer could speak to Rivas-Torres, he yelled back, “I have everything on camera! I have everything on camera.”

Rivas-Torres admitted he did shoot at the man. He told the officer, “I heard screaming. I saw a weapon. I feared for my life. And as they were running away, I-I- I-I shouldn’t have done it, but I decided to take shots.”

The officer detained Rivas-Torres. As he was walked to a police car, the 24-year-old immediately promised to “be extremely compliant.” Once in handcuffs and sitting in the back of the patrol car, Rivas-Torres answered several questions. He also allowed the officer access to his cell phone to see what his home surveillance cameras captured.

Rivas Torres explained, “I saw these two guys in masks going to the right over there where my trash bins are.” He told the officer that the trespassers left for a few minutes, and then his cameras alerted him that they were back. “And I pointed the light at both of them to kind of let them know, like, hey, I’m awake, and I’m seeing you guys,” he said. But when Rivas-Torres noticed they were not deterred, he said he grabbed his semi-automatic rifle. Because, he explained, “I just heard, like, loud, very loud screaming like someone was getting hurt and they were running by, and I could have sworn I saw a weapon. And that’s why I decided to shoot.”

While police and crime scene investigators secured the scene, the officer transferred Rivas-Torres to the substation so detectives could question him.

Rivas-Torres: I’ve never handled a firearm in my life. I’ve never even pointed a gun in my life.

Detective: Okay. At the moment when you pull the trigger dude, what was going through your head?

Rivas-Torres: Protect my family.

He explained to the detectives he’s still reeling from a recent attempted break-in when his wife was home alone. “I didn’t mean harm. I just, I just reacted,” Rivas-Torres said.

Moments later, he learned he was facing the criminal charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Rivas-Torres broke down in tears.

“All he’s done is play his cards right,” Rivas-Torres’s older brother, Sergio Torres, said. “He doesn’t even have a speeding ticket. He doesn’t even – he’s never been in trouble, he’s never gotten in fights, he’s never done anything in his life.” Sergio Rivas called his younger brother ‘hardworking’ and a ‘sweetheart.’ He said Rivas-Torres is a volunteer soccer coach for two young teams and plays the sport professionally, just like him.

“He is very involved in the community. He is a great brother and great husband. And seeing him in those chains was just like, how is this even possible right now?” Sergio Rivas questioned. He cannot comprehend how his younger brother is facing up to eight years in prison.

With no criminal history, Sergio Rivas expected his younger brother would be released after his first hearing. But the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to keep Rivas-Torres behind bars until his case goes to trial, calling him a danger to the community.

It’s a request the judge questioned, asking the assistant district attorney why – with no criminal history or history of noncompliance – the DA’s office believed Rivas-Torres would not follow the court’s rules if released.

ADA Collin Brennan responded, “How can we ensure that something like this does not get in the defendant’s hands again, where he comes into a similar situation with, say, somebody outside his property? You can’t, Your Honor. GPS doesn’t do that. Curfew doesn’t do that. He had three separate firearms found in his house at this time, so he has access to firearms.”

But to Rivas-Torres’s defense attorneys, Tyler Tuminski and Aaron Mitchell, the state wasn’t sharing the whole story. Mitchell told the Judge, “In the state’s presentation, they entirely overlook a victim in this case.”

Remember the woman who suffered a head injury?

In the lapel video captured by responding officers, she screamed, “Please help me. Why did you help the f***ing perpetrator first?”

One of the officers asked her to explain what happened. She responded, “No. Are you a cop? F** no! I can’t, I can’t.”

She refused to speak to the police, telling them she was worried about what would happen to her if she did. But days later, the woman contacted Rivas-Torres via the Metro Detention Center’s messaging system. She wrote to him, “Were you the one that saved my life and shot the guy who was attacking me… on your property?” She also shared her phone number and agreed to tell his defense team she was at his home that night for a drug deal.

A private investigator met with the woman late at night to conduct that interview. She explained, “It was to make a drop, a big one, because I really needed my rent money. And instead of paying me for it, they decided to set me up.”

She told him they brought her to Rivas-Torres’s house, saying a family member lived there and they needed to get a scale. “I bend down to tie my shoe, and I look up to a revolver in my face…. And then I started to get loud. You know, I said, please don’t do this…. They just all started to attack me. It was violent. I got pistol-whipped.”

You can hear part of that in the video Rivas-Torres shared with the police. “I just was fighting,” she continued. “Screaming. Praying that someone was gonna f***ing help me. And they heard something, and they all ran.” They heard Rivas-Torres, she said.

“I probably wouldn’t be sitting right here,” she added. “He is a hero. And he deserves to know that. And I’m so sorry that he’s in there.”

The judge denied the petition to detain Rivas-Torres.

Mitchell noted, “He saved her life, she’s saving his life now.” By providing evidence, Mitchell and Tuminski said, that should exonerate their client.

“We’ve got, in my opinion, a very strong defense of others claim,” Mitchell said. Tuminski explained, “When you see somebody that’s in danger, you can take steps under defense of others to protect that person from danger, just like you could take steps to protect yourself from danger.”

But the law says you’re not actually in danger when someone is running away.

“But what we have to focus on is that a firearm was still being brandished at the point that the individuals who were attacking this poor lady were running away,” Mitchell said. “And so, they’re still armed, they’re still dangerous. And I still believe that the actions under those circumstances were reasonable.”

A grand jury indicted Rivas-Torres on the criminal charge. But Tuminski and Mitchell said the woman’s interview wasn’t presented. They believe that’s grounds to dismiss the case. A judge will hear their arguments next week. The ADA disputes that.

Here are both of their court filings:  

• Isai Rivas-Torres Motion to Dismiss Indictment
• State’s Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment

Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed up to Rivas-Torres’s latest court hearing. He is undocumented. Rivas-Torres’s attorneys said he had an appointment that afternoon with an immigration attorney. He’s now at a facility in El Paso, Texas, under ICE custody.

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