Posted at: 07/11/2009 9:46 PM
Updated at: 07/13/2009 7:36 AM
By: Cris Ornelas, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com

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Homicide suspect in custody after standoff

Robert Romero (file photo)

Police say Robert Romero was barricaded inside a home on Arno near Aveinida Cesar Chavez with a relative and a pregnant woman who they say is either his wife or his girlfriend.  After three hours of negotiating, Romero gave himself up peacefully.

The APD SWAT team descended on the neighborhood about 5 p.m., Saturday. Street officers came to the home after getting a Crime Stoppers tip that 22-year-old Robert Romero was inside.

Albuquerque Police Spokesman John Walsh said Saturday, "When the officers arrived, they saw people on the inside of the house. Ever since then they've been announcing for them to come out with their hands up."

Police say Romero was the trigger man in a shooting last November in Albuquerque that left two men dead.

Cops say the victims were trying to get a gun from Romero and Gregery Meraz and decided to obtain the gun through a strongarm robbery.

The victims tried to surprise Romero and his alleged accomplice by pointing a shotgun at the door and then knocking.

Police said it didn't go as planned when the door opened: Romero pulled the victims inside by the barrel of the shotgun and killed both of them-- possibly with the gun they were there to steal, cops say.

PA announcements were the first thing neighbors heard this afternoon.

"They were saying 'Come out of your house -- to the south side of your house,'" neighbor Jeff Hartzer said. "On south Broadway, or anywhere in the southeast, when you hear the megaphones, its not a good sign." Soon, neighbors lined the streets trying to see what was happening.

Police arrested Romero's alleged accomplice, Gregery Meraz, shortly after the November shooting, but Romero's been on the run nearly eight months.

  Past coverage: Two sought in ABQ double homicide
  Past coverage: Double homicide suspect caught