Two arrested in New Mexico car shoot shooting that killed three as cops ID teen victims
Two people — including a teenager — were arrested Saturday over the mass shooting at a New Mexico car meet-up that killed three teen boys and injured 15 others.Tomas Rivas, 20, and an unidentified 17-year-old boy were arrested and charged with three open counts of murder, meaning prosecutors can pursue charges of manslaughter or murder in the first or second degree at a later date, cops announced Sunday.Additional charges against the pair are expected to drop in the coming days, the Las Cruces Police Department noted.Police on Sunday also revealed the identities of the three victims as Andrew Madrid, 16; Jason Gomez, 18; and Dominick Estrada, 19, who were killed when two warring groups opened fire at Young Park Friday.Madrid and Gomez died at the scene.
Estrada was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, cops said.Fifteen other people, whose ages range from 16 to 36, were injured in the mass shooting.Nine are male and six are female, cops said, and most were treated at hospitals.Police did not reveal the extent of the survivors’ injuries, though Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story said Saturday that several were “fighting for their lives.”The shooting erupted shortly after 10 p.m.
in the parking lot of Young Park, where roughly 200 people had gathered for an illegal car meet.An altercation between two groups with longstanding beef escalated into gunfire, sending bystanders into a hurried frenzy to find cover.
Several of the injured were bystanders caught in the crossfire, Story said.“We know that there is some type of ill will between these groups prior to last night.They had some issues before and it escalated last night,” said Story.Police did not explicitly say that Rivas and the teenage suspect were members of the warring groups.
Similarly, it is not clear whether Madrid, Gomez and Estrada participated in the shooting or were bystanders.“There were firearms throughout this entire event, some that were used in the sh...