New Mexico shooting: Motive of teen who killed 3 elderly women in Farmington still unknown, police say
CNN —
Three elderly women out on a morning drive became the innocent targets this week of an 18-year-old gunman who shot indiscriminately through a New Mexico neighborhood, police have confirmed, as investigators work to pin down the motive for yet another deadly episode in America’s gun violence plague.
Gwendolyn Schofield, 98, her daughter Melody Ivie, 73, and Shirley Volta, 79, were slain Monday by Beau Adam Wilson, whom police shot dead after he roamed more than a quarter mile of the small city of Farmington with an AR-style rifle and two other weapons, apparently firing at random, police said.
Wilson had been living in the neighborhood and was a student at Farmington High School, they said.
“The amount of violence and brutality that these innocent people faced is something that is unconscionable to me,” Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said Tuesday in a news conference. “To kill three innocent elderly women that were just absolutely in no position to defend themselves is always going to be a tragedy.”
Others, including police officers, were wounded in what’s become one of 226 mass shootings – with four or more victims shot – this year in the US, with people often falling prey while out for everyday tasks like grocery shopping, attending school and going to work.
Authorities are still looking into how the shooter came to possess the firearms, which all had been bought legally, Dowdy said. They believe two were owned by a family member of Wilson, who turned 18 in October and purchased the third gun in November, he said.
Some relatives interviewed by law enforcement expressed concerns about Wilson’s mental health, Dowdy said, adding it’s not clear whether he had been diagnosed with any issues. Wilson had only “minor infractions” with law enforcement before the violent attack, the deputy chief said.
Community members sing during a prayer vigil Monday in Farmington, New Mexico. Susan Montoya Bryan/AP
Officers wounded in ‘purely random’ attack
Hundreds of 911 calls had flooded in to authorities as gunfire reverberated through the neighborhood, nestled in a commercial hub near the Southwest’s Four Corners.
Six people, including two police officers who were shot, were treated at a local hospital and released, Farmington Deputy Chief Baric Crum said Tuesday. Several others, including some who were injured by exploding glass, were treated and released on the scene, he said.
“This incident appears to be purely random and had no specific targets or motives that we can identify at this time,” Dowdy said, reiterating the investigation is still underway.
At least 150 shell casings were found across the sprawling scene, said Dowdy, though it wasn’t immediately clear how many were fired by the gunman. The four police officers who stopped the attacker fired 16 times, authorities said.
Farmington Police Sgt. Rachel Discenza was wounded in the exchange of fire with the assailant and New Mexico State Police officer Andreas Stamatiadas was shot as he arrived at the scene, Crum said.
Source: CNN
