A “rampage” was the way Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe described Monday’s active shooting that took place in the northwestern New Mexican city.
In an update posted on the department’s Facebook page, Hebbe said the gunman, who was 18-years of age, fired at least three weapons indiscriminately in a Farmington neighborhood on Monday morning.
One of the weapons used was an AR style rifle.
Three people were killed, two police officers, one Farmington and the other a New Mexico State were wounded and four citizens were also wounded.
According to reporting by the Albuquerque Journal, the three people killed were all women over the age of 70. The gunman himself was shot and killed by responding officers.
In the update, Hebbe said law enforcement is starting their investigation into this accident, but at this time, it appears to be a random act.
“The event is difficult to understand, how something like this happens. But we are doing the best that we can to piece through and talk with family members of the suspect, piece through what was going on, look at evidence to see if we can figure out what the motivation was. But at this point, it appears to be purely random, that there was no schools, no churches, no individuals targeted”.
The suspect roamed a quarter-mile area according to Hebbe, with six houses and three cars shot as he randomly fired his weapons.
When the suspect was ultimately found by police, it was in the 700 Block of North Dustin Avenue, approximately only a mile away from downtown Farmington.
Community members held a vigil for the victims and their families Monday night at the Hills Church.
The impact of this loss on their community has Chief Hebbe searching for what to say.
“I don’t even know what to say during an event like this, how do you address it? My deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. It’s a devastating day.”