The police chief of Farmington, New Mexico, said in a video news statement released on Monday that the 18-year-old gunman who sh*t and k!lled three people and wounded six others, including two law enforcement officers, used three we@pons.
An 18-year-old gunman fired indiscriminately on a residential street in Farmington, New Mexico, on Monday morning, killing three people before the police arrived and killed him, the authorities said. Six other people, including two officers, were injured. https://t.co/U0JQNgBCwi
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2023
According to Police Chief Steve Hebbe, the assailant was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and two additional guns as he walked a neighborhood for about a quarter mile before he was slain by responding authorities.
The sh*oter was responsible for the de@ths of three individuals and the wounding of two police officers and four civilians. Before running into Farmington Police officers at around 11 a.m. MDT, he sh*t at least six homes and three vehicles.
The chief stated that the sh*oting spree appeared to be random. “There were no schools, no churches, no individuals targeted,” he added, adding that it appeared the sh*oter was aiming at something that “entered his head.”
According to an email from a hospital spokeswoman, seven people were admitted to San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington. Werbner stated that she was unable to discuss the patients’ circumstances.
Chief Said, a New Mexico State Police officer was shot and afterwards drove himself to the hospital. “He’s doing well at this moment,” Stebbe added. The chief of police in Farmington, who was also shot, has been released from the hospital.
“The event is difficult to understand, how something like this happens,” he said. “But we are doing the best that we can to piece through (evidence), and talk with family members of the suspect to piece through what was going on” and determine a motive, he added.
Read further about the shooter at the websites we’ve provided down below:
- Shooter Sentenced to 92 Years for Attempted Murder of Linn County Deputy
- Atlanta Active Shooter Suspect Captured in Cobb County in Chilling Footage
Time is needed to investigate the “wide and complex” crime scene, as described by Stebbe. No victims or sh*oters have been publicly identified by authorities. The police chief has announced that they will conduct a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
ATF’s Phoenix field office had previously tweeted that agents were “responding to a report of a mass shooting” in Farmington. The governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, has asked for prayers for the victims and their families and has ordered the state to assist local authorities in their investigation.
ATF is responding to a report of a mass shooting in Farmington, NM. Please contact @FPDNM with any inquiries. pic.twitter.com/CA1KtQFE5u
— ATF Phoenix (@ATFPhoenix) May 15, 2023
“Although details continue to emerge about this incident, this serves as yet another reminder of how gun violence destroys lives in our state and our country every single day,” she said in a statement. “This administration will not stop fighting the epidemic of gun violence from every angle possible.”
Nate Duckett, mayor of Farmington, said he has heard nothing but encouragement from the federal government, officials in Washington, the Navajo Nation, and other mayors around the state.
“We are a resilient community, a community that cares for each other,” Duckett said. “In the face of adversity, we must stand together, comfort one another, and make a determined effort to heal these wounds so we can emerge stronger and not allow this act of violence to define us.”
Farmington, New Mexico is home to roughly 46,400 people and is located in northwest New Mexico, just south of the Colorado state line. Located roughly 50 miles from the Four Corners area where the borders of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah meet, this location is about 150 miles northwest of Albuquerque.
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