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A man fatally shot by a New Mexico State Police officer during an April 16 encounter along Interstate 40 was a North Carolina resident sought in a homicide in that state, the police agency said Thursday.

The shooting occurred near Prewitt during a struggle after the officer was dispatched to check on the welfare of a man seen slumped over a car’s steering wheel, the agency said in a statement.

When contacted by the officer, Oliver Ashley Toledo Saldivar, 26, got out of the car and charged and tackled the officer, who then shot Saldivar, the statement said.

Saldivar was able to retrieve a gun from his jacket before the officer grabbed the gun and threw it away, the statement said.

A passing truck driver stopped and helped the officer subdue Saldivar, who died at the scene, the statement said.

When the incident occurred, the officer wasn’t aware that Saldivar was a suspect in an April 12 homicide in Durham, the statement said.

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