Dulce Man Charged After Allegedly Threatening Children with Firearm

ALBUQUERQUE - A Dulce man is facing federal child abuse charges after allegedly confronting an adult and two minors outside a residence with a pistol and attempting to force his way into the home while the victims barricaded the door with their bodies.

According to court documents from May 8, 2026, Andrew Fredrick Gunhammer, 26, an enrolled member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, approached an adult and two minors outside a residence in Dulce, New Mexico, pulled a pistol from his backpack, and began to load it with a magazine. The adult and minors ran into the residence and used their bodies to block the door when Gunhammer attempted to force entry. A fourth person inside the house told Gunhammer to leave because they were calling the police. Gunhammer fled to another residence on the same street.

Officers from the Jicarilla Apache Police Department arrived at a separate residence that Gunhammer fled to and took him into custody. Inside the residence, officers located the backpack in a bedroom and the pistol with one chambered round under a mattress. Inside the backpack, officers located several rounds of different ammunition and drug paraphernalia.

Gunhammer is charged with child abuse and will remain in federal custody pending trial which has not yet been scheduled. If convicted, Gunhammer faces three years in prison.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The Farmington Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Jicarilla Apache Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Mondragon is prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.