3 killed, 15 injured in mass shooting at a park in Las Cruces, N.M.

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

Police and fire crews arrived just after 10 p.m. Friday to a chaotic scene at 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 at the scene or sent to area hospitals.

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

The dead were identified as a 16-year-old boy and two men, ages 18 and 19, police said. Their names and those of the injured were not yet released.

Local police were being assisted in their investigation by New Mexico State Police, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Las Cruces Fire Chief Michael Daniels said seven patients were treated at the scene, including two who died, and 11 others were sent to three local hospitals or to University Medical Center of El Paso, the regional trauma center. By Saturday, seven of the surviving victims were in El Paso, four had been treated and released, and the four remaining victims’ conditions were not known, he said.

Authorities continued to solicit videos and other tips from those who attended the car show as they worked to identify who carried out the attack.

“This horrendous, senseless act is a stark reminder of the blatant disregard people in New Mexico have for the rule of law and order,” Story said. Referring to the perpetrators, he pledged to “find each and every one of them. ... We will hold them accountable to the criminal justice system.”

Story said that illegal car shows are commonly held at Young Park and that the police presence has been larger in the past. He said understaffing within the Police Department meant that he had “no units available for most of the night” on Friday. Also, the city has purchased new technology for its parks as part of its real-time crime center, he said, but it hasn’t been installed yet.

In an Instagram post on Saturday, Las Cruces City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Johana Bencomo addressed the tragedy.

“Part of me wanted to write that this is something you never really think ... is going to happen in your city, but that actually feels deeply untrue,” she wrote. “Honestly now, 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 Mayor Eric Enriquez called for people to support the victims, their families and the community after the “senseless” event.

“We need to stand strong. We need to come together,” he said.

The Las Cruces Police Department was on the scene Saturday, and the area around the park was closed to traffic, according to local news reports.

“This is a huge crime scene with a lot of moving parts,” Story said. “It will take time to process it thoroughly and reopen everything.”

At the Capitol in Santa Fe, the state Senate held a late-night moment of silence Friday as word of the shootings spread.

The shootings come amid ongoing efforts by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state Legislature to address high crime and concerns about gun violence.

Lujan Grisham said she was gripped by sorrow for victims’ relatives as well as anger and disappointment that more public safety bills did not make it to her desk before the legislative session ended at noon Saturday.

“We don’t have sufficient tools, we are not bringing accountability to these communities,” she said at a news conference. “I’m so sorry for the individuals whose lives are forever changed, for a community that will be shattered.”

Lujan Grisham recently signed into law a package of enhanced penalties for vehicle theft, fentanyl trafficking and school shooting threats, along with a ban on devices that convert guns to automatic weapons.

Legislators passed an overhaul of the state’s red-flag gun law, which can temporarily remove firearms from people who may be a danger, and bolstered funding for addiction and mental health treatment.

But the governor excoriated legislators for a lack of progress on juvenile justice reforms and highlighted the large number of weapons apparently used in the Las Cruces shootings.

“These tragedies have to end,” she said. “The amount of guns that find their ways into public parks and schools and churches and grocery stores and parties and cars must end.”

Las Cruces sits on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, about 40 miles north of the Mexican border.