Three killed, 15 injured in a shooting at a park in New Mexico’s Las Cruces

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Three people died and 15 others were injured after an altercation broke out Friday at a park in the desert city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, police said Saturday.

Police and fire crews arrived at just after 10 p.m. Friday onto a chaotic scene at the city’s Young Park, where an unauthorized car show had drawn about 200 people, police said during a news conference. Gunshot victims ranging in age from 16 to 36 were treated on the scene or sent to area hospitals.

Between 50 and 60 shell casings — all from handguns — were found scattered across a wide swath of the large park, Police Chief Jeremy Story said, suggesting multiple shooters and multiple weapons within the two opposing groups. Several others were injured in the crossfire, he said.

Those who died were two 19-year-old men and a 16-year-old boy, police said. Their names and those of other victims were not yet being released.

Police were asking for bystanders to share videos and other tips as they continued to seek a suspect or suspects in the attack, which occurred at about 10 p.m. on Friday in the city’s Young Park, a music and recreation venue. A news conference was scheduled for later Saturday.

In a post to Instagram on Saturday, Las Cruces City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Johana Bencomo expressed grief at the tragedy.

“Part of me wanted to write that this is something you never really think this is going to happen in your city, but that actually feels deeply untrue,” she wrote. “Honestly now days a tragedy like this feels like a nightmare just waiting to come true at any possible moment, yet also always praying and hoping it never will.”

Las Cruces sits on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande River in southern New Mexico, about 41 miles (66 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The Las Cruces Police Department said they were being assisted in their investigation by New Mexico State Police, the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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