A 14-year-old is useless and one other particular person is injured after an early morning capturing at a dormitory complicated on the College of New Mexico in Albuquerque, authorities mentioned Friday.
The suspect, an 18-year-old, has been taken into custody, New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler mentioned throughout a information convention Friday night time. An investigation is ongoing, and authorities mentioned costs are forthcoming.
The incident befell on the faculty’s Casas del Rio (Gila) pupil housing middle, UNM President Garnett S. Stokes mentioned in a press release. The injured sufferer is presently hospitalized.
4 folks have been taking part in video video games in a dorm room when, “for causes we’re nonetheless investigating,” the suspect started capturing a firearm on the different occupants within the room, Weisler mentioned. The 14-year-old was fatally shot and later discovered within the dorm; the opposite folks, together with a 19-year-old and the suspect, fled. Police did not instantly give the age of the fourth particular person. The scholar whose dorm the capturing befell in was one of many 4 folks, police mentioned.
Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal by way of AP
Police responded to an alarm on the dorm constructing at roughly 1:36 a.m. native time and located damaged home windows and what seemed to be blood on the scene, Weisler mentioned. At 2:30 a.m., a hospital reported {that a} 19-year-old man had arrived with a gunshot wound who mentioned he’d been shot on campus. Upon a sweep of close by buildings, police discovered the deceased 14-year-old contained in the dorm.
New Mexico State Police took over the investigation at 3:45 a.m., Weisler mentioned. The suspect was later situated and brought into custody round 2:30 p.m.
Campus will likely be open Saturday with all deliberate actions, UNM mentioned on its website Friday night time. Central campus had been closed “out of an abundance of warning,” the varsity said earlier in the day on social media. College students have been requested to shelter in place, and a number of regulation enforcement businesses have been on the scene, the college had mentioned.
Campus police mentioned they acquired the report of gunshots “within the early morning hours” Friday. The college first posted concerning the incident at 3:27 a.m.
State Rep. Marianna Anaya mentioned in a press release that the capturing occurred throughout new pupil orientation, “a time when college students and their households ought to be crammed with hope, pleasure, and a way of chance.”
“As a substitute, the sense of security for college kids and residents throughout our metropolis has been impacted,” Anaya mentioned. “Our youth, whether or not they’re on or off campus, mustn’t expertise this sort of trauma.”
Anybody with details about the incident is requested to name the campus police division.
The college is offering counseling providers for college kids, college and employees, Stokes mentioned. “I’m deeply saddened by the lack of life and horrified by this act of violence in our campus neighborhood,” she mentioned. “Our ideas and prayers go to the family members and mates of these misplaced and injured.”
The College of New Mexico is a public college in Albuquerque. About 22,000 college students are enrolled there.
