New Mexico police respond to mass shooting

Farmington, New Mexico —

On Monday, an 18-year-old man with at least three guns roamed a community in northwestern New Mexico and opened fire indiscriminately at cars and homes, killing three people, including two police officers. Authorities said one person was injured.

The shooting took place around 11 a.m. in Farmington, a city of about 50,000 people near the Four Corners intersection of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Farmington is both a supply chain and bedroom town for the region’s oil and gas industry.

Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebb said in a video released Monday night that officers who responded to the shooting call encountered the attacker within minutes and killed him with at least one shot. . He said the shooter fired at least three weapons, including an “AR-style rifle.”

The shooting was “honestly one of the most terrifying and difficult days Farmington has ever had as a community,” he said.

The identities of the shooter and victim were not immediately released.

Investigators had difficulty determining a motive for the attack, including speaking to the shooter’s family.

“But at this point, it seems like sheer randomness that no school, church or individual was targeted,” Hebbe said. “During the incident, the suspect roamed the neighborhood for up to 400 meters. During the course of the incident, at least six houses and three cars were shot as the suspect fired indiscriminately at anything that entered his head. rice field.”

In a statement, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said he was praying for the families of the victims, saying the incident was “a reminder of how gun violence is destroying lives in our state and our country every day. It has become something to do,” he said.

Mayor Nate Duckett said in a statement that “we are trembling with pain and disbelief” at the shooting.

Video below: Farmington police block roads after shooting

At sundown on Monday, dozens of people gathered around a tall metal cross to pray at Hills Church, just a few miles from the site of the attack. Some even folded their arms and listened. The mayor and law enforcement officers were also in the crowd.

Senior pastor Matt Mizell spoke of living in a “dark and broken world,” but told the crowd there was still hope and asked God to give him strength.

Officers began receiving reports of shootings around 10:57 a.m., Hebbe said, with the first officers arriving at 11:02 a.m. Three minutes later, the shooter was killed. .

Officers initially thought there might be a second suspect and the school was closed “because they didn’t know where the other suspects were,” he said. But now the 18-year-old appears to have acted alone, he said. He said.

A Farmington police officer was shot and taken to a hospital where he was treated and released, while a state police officer was also shot and driven to the hospital where he remains fine, Hebe said. Told. The officer’s condition was reported to be stable.

Joseph Robledo, a 32-year-old tree cutter, said he rushed home after learning his wife and 1-year-old daughter had taken refuge in the laundry room when gunshots rang out. The bullet passed through her window and room, but did not hit anyone.

Robredo jumped over the fence and entered through the back door. In front of him, he found an elderly woman on the street who had been injured when he drove by. He said she appeared to have fallen out of her car and her car kept running without her.

“There was a woman lying on the road and I went outside to try and figure out what was going on,” said Robledo. He and others started first aid.

Neighbors turned the arriving police officers on the suspect.

“We said (to the police), ‘He’s over there.’ …The officers acted immediately,” Robledo said.

Robredo’s own family car was riddled with bullet holes.

“We’ve been working in the yard all week. Thank God there was no one in front of us outside,” he said.

“Obviously with the elderly, he had no sympathy for them. Who can say he would have sympathy for young children,” he said.

Middle school teacher Nick Akins, whose home is on a street that police have cordoned off, said the area is a near-great place to live, with a mix of houses, short-term apartments and churches.

“It’s not the wildest part of town, but it could be,” he says. “We have great neighbors and rental homes and people coming and going. We don’t know everyone all the time.”

It was surreal for him to see Farmington once again gaining national attention for mass shootings, especially those on the streets of his home.

“You never thought it would happen here, and suddenly it’s here in a small little town,” Eakins said.

Hebbe said he was “incredibly proud” of the police’s response given the threat of the moving suspect and the chaos of the scene. At least nine calls were made to authorities, and “information was scattered about where the suspect was,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office, Farmington Police Department and State Police all responded. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tweeted that Phoenix officials were heading to Farmington to assist with the investigation.

Farmington police were scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat in the area, wrote on Facebook: “Today, gun violence claimed the life of an elderly person, injured two police officers, and terrorized the small community of Farmington. It paralyzed me,” he said. “I commend the heroes who drove into dangerous places to stop the violence.

“Our beautiful Nuevo Mexico is not immune to mass shootings across the country. Single. The day,” the message read.

In recent years, cafes and breweries have sprung up in downtown Farmington, alongside decades-old businesses with Native American crafts ranging from silver jewelry to woolen fabrics.

Last month, Farmington police shot dead a man on his doorstep after he went to the wrong address when responding to a domestic violence call.

Associated Press reporter Terry Tan of Phoenix contributed.