Police in New Mexico have arrested two suspects in Friday’s mass shooting during an unsanctioned car show at a park in the city of Las Cruces, which left three teenagers dead and at least 15 others injured. Las Cruces sits on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande River in southern New Mexico (about 41 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border.) The shooting occurred at about 10 p.m. local time on Friday in the desert city’s Young Park, a music and recreation venue. , Police Chief Jeremy Story said there were approximately 200 people in attendance when the altercation between two groups at the car show escalated. Many were injured including bystanders who may have been struck by crossfire; it remains unclear what started the altercation.
The Las Cruces Police Department announced Sunday morning that the suspects – 20-year-old Tomas Rivas and an unidentified 17-year-old male – were each charged with three open counts of murder (“open murder” means prosecutors can pursue charges of manslaughter or murder in the first or second degree, and the specific level of culpability will be decided later). Additional charges were pending against Rivas and the 17-year-old, with Las Cruces Police sharing in a post on Facebook that they arrested the duo Saturday evening: “Rivas will be booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he will initially be held without bond. The juvenile will be remanded to the juvenile detention facility.”
Police also identified the three people killed in the shooting: 16-year-old Andrew Madrid, 18-year-old Jason Gomez and 19-year-old Dominick Estrada. Madrid and Gomez died on the scene, and Estrada died after he was taken to a medical center. The 15 people injured were comprised of nine males and six females, ranging in age from 16 to 36, with Las Cruces Fire Chief Michael Daniels stating that four have since been treated and released.
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