Deputy Sheriff Robert Walter Hedman

Robert Walter Hedman

Deputy Sheriff Robert Hedman was shot and killed after responding to a call of a domestic dispute at a home on U.S. 82 10 miles east of Cloudcroft.

He and another deputy responded to the dispute at approximately 7:00 pm. The deputies noticed blood on the floor at the entryway to the residence. They made contact with a male resident and a 3-year-old girl but the man slammed and locked the door.

Deputy Hedman's partner took cover as Deputy Hedman went to the back of the home. The man opened fire on Deputy Hedman at the rear of the home, fatally wounding him. The man then returned to the front of the home where he engaged the other deputy in a shootout. The man was shot and killed by the return gunfire from Deputy Hedman's partner.

The body of a woman who was murdered by the man earlier in the evening was found inside the home.

Deputy Hedman had served with the Otero County Sheriff's Department for three years. He had previously served with the Tularosa Police Department, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, and the Alamogordo Department of Public Safety. Prior to his service as a police officer, he served in the Army for 21 years, retiring in 1994 as a staff sergeant. Deputy Hedman was a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Deputy Hedman is survived by his wife and two children and is buried in Monte Vista Cemetery, Alamogordo, Otero County, New Mexico.