Santa Fe police ID carjacking suspect accused in shooting death

SANTA FE, N.M. – It started as a carjacking and ended with a man shot to death.

On Tuesday, Gordon Wilson was in the Best Buy parking lot when a man shot him in broad daylight and drove off in his car.

Police identified the suspect Thursday as 38-year-old Zachary Ryan Babitz from Glendale, California.

Many residents are still shocked this happened, especially because it happened in broad daylight.

A witness, who didn’t want to go on camera, told KOB 4 it came out of nowhere. He took photos, showing Babitz searching the victim’s body.

Then, Babitz took off in the Wilson’s car, a blue 2020 grand Jeep Cherokee with the New Mexico license plate CRM-142. 

Babitz was wearing black jeans, a blue shirt with a button-up shirt underneath and a white baseball cap.

Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber says he can’t say much because of the ongoing investigation, but he’s working closely with police to track down the suspected killer.

“The individual who committed the crime has not been apprehended, but there’s good information that we’re hoping will lead to his arrest very soon,” said Webber. 

Webber told us there’s been a lot of misinformation going around, but crime is mostly down in Santa Fe.

According to new data released Thursday, the only types of crime that are up from last year are robberies and assault.

But Webber says he understands people are worried.

“Data show that Santa Fe crime is in most categories going down compared to last year, and that’s a good thing. But the feeling, the emotion, the perception is that we are having more crime, so we have to go out and work with folks. We have to talk with them. We have to get them to report the crime so that the police have good data to work with,” said Webber. 

In that new data, Santa Fe police have had at least two operations in the shopping plaza where the Best Buy is.

Webber says they’ll continue those operations in hopes of preventing more crime.

Babtiz has been charged with murder and robbery, and felon in possession of a firearm.