New Mexico university shooting kills one; suspected shooter arrested

ALBUQUERQUE: A shooting early Friday at a University of New Mexico dormitory killed a 14-year-old boy, wounded a 19-year-old and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of students and a campuswide search for the suspect, who has since been taken into custody.

According to a news piece by AP, New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said officers took a male suspect into custody about 2:30 PM. John Fuentes, 18, was booked on the charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence, according to the New Mexico State Police. Fuentes will be held without bond and remain in custody until his conditions of release are determined by the district court.

Four people, including the suspect, were playing video games inside a dorm room belonging to one of them when the shooting began, Joseph Silva, chief of the University of New Mexico Police Department, said at a news conference.

The 14-year-old was fatally shot, and the others fled the room, Weisler said. A 19-year-old male sought treatment at a hospital and said he was shot on campus.

Authorities were investigating why the suspect fired a gun, Weisler said. Police were working with prosecutors to draft charging documents, he said.

Officials issued an initial alert just before 3:30 AM. that a shooting had taken place. Another alert asking people to shelter in place was sent out just after 6 AM. Police evacuated parts of the campus.

“We had a student orientation going so there were like 400 kids in dorms, so we wanted to make sure they were safe,” said Lt. Tim Delgado with the University of New Mexico Police Department.

For much of the day, authorities had the area around the student housing complex cordoned off with yellow tape as police vehicles blocked roadways and investigators gathered.

Not far from the dorms, a line of university buses waited for students to board, many of them carrying backpacks and pulling small luggage carts with their belongings. The university was conducting a “staged, tactical evacuation,” spokesperson Cinnamon Blair said in an emailed statement. People were told not to move without direction from campus police.

The university in central Albuquerque has about 23,000 students during the school year. New students have been visiting as part of scheduled orientations ahead of the fall semester, which begins in about three weeks.

Also read: One dead, six wounded in Indianapolis shooting