CLOUDCROFT, N.M. — Police released new details Thursday regarding the police shooting of a Whatcom County man on the run from the law in rural New Mexico.

Kurt Sohrbeck, 55, was shot and killed by Otero County sheriff’s Deputy Sean Jett just after 2 p.m. MDT. Sohrbeck reportedly told the officer he “would not be taken” as he reached into his back pocket and approached the deputy aggressively.

Police had been scouring the mountainous wilderness in the area for Sohrbeck after he shot Lincoln County sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Shepperd during a traffic stop March 13. Shepperd was shot in the head, chest and arm and remains in the rehabilitation section of an El Paso, Texas, hospital.

Sohrbeck, who was pronounced dead at the scene Thursday, reportedly refused several commands to stop before Jett shot him.

Peter Olson, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, said police found a folding box cutter in Sohrbeck’s back pocket, the Associated Press reported.

Jett was the only officer on the scene during the shooting. A back-up officer arrived about a minute later.

Jett is on administrative leave while police investigate the shooting — standard procedure when an officer kills a suspect.

Sohrbeck, who lived in Whatcom County off and on for more than a decade, had outstanding warrants locally for assault and eluding a police officer. The former construction worker had a criminal record in 11 states since the 1970s and was a suspect in several identity thefts while living in Whatcom County.

After more than a month of investigation, Washington State Patrol detectives determined Sohrbeck’s real identity and location after a March 9 Bellingham Herald article netted more than 100 tips.

Edward Fleming, whose identity was stolen by Sohrbeck after Fleming hired Sohrbeck for a construction job in Maui last year, said hearing news accounts of Sohrbeck’s run from the law was surreal. Sohrbeck purchased a truck and was living in Bellingham under Fleming’s identity as recently as January.

“I don’t think people will get a chance to learn how evil he was,” Fleming said.

Fleming, a former Whatcom County resident, said his thoughts go out to Shepperd, the deputy who was shot, and his family.

“(Sohrbeck) didn’t deserve to die for (stealing my identity) — that’s only money,” Fleming said. “But when I heard he hurt a cop … there has to be a trade off there. That’s way over the line.”

The Associated Press, Ruidoso News and Alamogordo Daily News contributed to this report. Reach Caleb Heeringa at 715-2264 or caleb.heeringa@bellinghamherald.com .