Dramatic video footage from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office shows two boys, ages 7 and 9, armed with a loaded gun in a standoff with sheriff’s deputies. Thankfully, the authorities were able to de-escalate the situation, and neither boy was harmed.
For context, some observers have invoked the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act, also known as House Bill 9 or “Bennie’s Law,” when discussing this case. The statute is a New Mexico law named after 13-year-old Bennie Hargrove, who was shot and killed by a classmate in Albuquerque in 2021. The law aims to prevent gun violence by holding gun owners accountable for negligent firearm storage, which results in harm to others.
Describing the February 16, 2025, incident, Sheriff John Allen emphasized that how dire the consequences would have been had events unfolded differently. He explained that if the gun had not malfunctioned, “our deputies could have taken deadly force. That would not have gone well with anybody in the nation.”
Understandably, the BCSO would not identify the children, or their parents, “out of respect for the family and to support ongoing efforts to connect them with the resources and assistance they need.” However, the sheriff did note that they “were taught how to use the firearm” and hinted that his office may pursue criminal charges under the Benny Hargrove law.
Adding additional context, he said, “Children are our future, and we know one side is going to say, ‘Lock them in jail.’ They’re 7 and 9 years old. I told you before, numerous times in numerous interviews, that I understand the frontal lobe.”
Concluding his remarks, the Sheriff explained that if the boys were older, they would face more serious charges. Allen stated, If the boys were older, we’d probably be speaking differently and doing it the reverse route.” Continuing, he said, “Arresting people isn’t the only way out of this crisis of juvenile crime. … You have to look at it from a bunch of different avenues and use the resources you have, and then criminal elements can come later.”
Speaking to the mental state of the boys involved in this crisis, Behavioral Health Unit Clinical Manager Michael Lucero offered his expertise. Lucero said, “As you can imagine, if you’re in crisis and you’re suffering from major mental illness and possibly co-occurring disorders such as substance use, it’s very difficult to navigate multiple systems.”
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Continuing his evaluation, the mental health professional added, “And we have highly educated, highly skilled people on this team, and it took all of us just to navigate multiple systems, and we are still running into barriers while working this case.”
Watch footage of the standoff here:
After a clip of the standoff was published on YouTube, members of the public took to the comments to express their horror. One such comment took their parents to task, saying, “That age not listening to adults
they’ve had No parenting, that’s not normal behavior from kid’s of that age! Talk about dropping the Ball, those parents should be investigated!” Agreeing, another user stated, “Initially I was annoyed at how nice the cops were being with the whole “you’re not in trouble, you’re doing great” nonsense, but even after they went aggressive with the 40, tasers and yelling, the kids still continued to act like little shits. Clearly this is a massive parenting failure. The cops did everything they could.
Featured image from embedded video