ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The man fatally shot by a former CNN reporter at an Albuquerque motel had fled parole in Tennessee, police said Thursday.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Tanner Tixier (tih-SHAY) said that Tomorio Walton had absconded from parole out of Memphis and it wasn't clear how long he had been in New Mexico.

Chuck de Caro and his wife, Lynne Russell, were in their room when Walton, 27, allegedly tried to rob them, authorities said.

Russell, a former CNN anchor, said the couple stopped at an Albuquerque Motel 6 on Tuesday night after a long day of traveling and they also had their dog. She said an armed man was at their door when she returned from getting something from their car.

"He pushed me into the room and that's when my husband came out of the shower and saw what was happening," Russell told KOB-TV. "We tried to calm him, confuse him and do everything we could do to just come out of it in one piece."

Walton allegedly took de Caro's briefcase before shooting at him. Both Russell and de Caro have concealed carry weapons permits and de Caro "fired back and it was a shootout," Russell said.

Police said de Caro suffered three gunshot wounds and killed Walton when he returned fire. Russell was not injured.

Police spokesman Simon Drobik on Friday said it was unlikely de Caro would face any charges in what appeared to be a case of self-defense.

Russell told The Associated Press that de Caro was recovering at a hospital.

De Caro was an investigative reporter for CNN and is a consultant for the Pentagon. Russell retired from CNN in 2005.