Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the mass shooting at a New Mexico park that left three people dead and 15 others injured.
Police arrested Tomas Rivas, 20, and an unnamed 17-year-old boy on Saturday, March 22, and another unnamed 17-year-old boy on Sunday, March 23, for their alleged involvement in the March 21 shooting at Young Park in Las Cruces, according to the Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD).
Rivas and the teens were all charged with three open counts of murder, police said. They added that additional charges are pending.
Rivas will be booked into Dona Ana County Detention Center, a Las Cruces facility, where he will initially be held without bond, according to the LCPD. The teens, meanwhile, are incarcerated in its juvenile facility.
The investigation into the mass shooting is ongoing, police said. They are receiving assistance from several law enforcement partners — including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — and “are actively following multiple leads.”
On March 23, the LCPD also released the names of the three victims who died in the Young Park shooting two days prior.
Those individuals have been identified as Andrew Madrid, 16, Jason Gomez, 18, and Dominick Estrada, 19. Madrid and Gomez died on scene, while Estrada was hospitalized and later succumbed to his injuries, according to the department.
Nine of the 15 surviving victims are male and six are female, with ages ranging from 16 to 36, according to police. The current medical conditions of the victims, whose names were not publicly released to protect their privacy at this time, are not available.
On March 21, LCPD officers responded to the Young Park shooting, which took place shortly after 10 p.m. local time. The incident happened after an “unsanctioned” car show at the park near 850 S. Walnut St., Police Chief Jeremy Story said during a news conference on March 22.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
According to investigators, an “altercation” took place between “two groups of people” before it “escalated to gunfire,” the police chief said, adding that “several other people” were injured in the crossfire.
Police also believe there was “ill will” between the two groups prior to the nighttime altercation, which occurred while approximately 200 people were in the Las Cruces park.
Authorities later located an estimated 50 to 60 “handgun-caliber casings” in the park, with Story confirming to local media that “multiple firearms” were involved in the shooting.
And, while the “majority of the shooting” took place in the parking lot of the park, police also found casings in other areas. “This is a huge crime scene with a lot of moving parts,” Story told reporters. “It will take time to process it thoroughly and reopen everything.”
Young Park, as well as some nearby roads, remained closed on March 22, as police continued gathering evidence from the scene.
Read the full article here
