FARMINGTON, N.M. — Authorities on Tuesday identified the 18-year-old gunman who opened fire in a northwestern New Mexico city on Monday, killing three women and injuring six other people.
During a news conference, Farmington police Chief Steve Hebbe said that Beau Wilson, a high school student, roamed up and down a busy street and fired randomly into houses and cars, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Hebbe said that Wilson, who was killed by authorities, used three different weapons, including an “AR-style rifle.”
Update 5:27 p.m. EDT May 16: Authorities in New Mexico identified the three women killed and the two law enforcement agents wounded in Monday’s mass shooting, KRQE-TV reported.
The victims were identified by Farmington police Deputy Chief Baric Crum as Shirley Voita, 79; Melody Ivie, 73; and Gwendolyn Schofield, 98, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Schofield was Ivie’s mother, according to the newspaper.
Farmington Police Sgt. Rachel Discenza and New Mexico State Police Officer Andreas Stamatiadis were wounded in the exchange of gunfire, KRQE reported.
Original report: The three victims were all over the age of 70, Hebbe told reporters. Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said one of the three women was in her 90s, while the other two victims killed were in their 70s. The six people injured included a Farmington police officer and a New Mexico State Police trooper, KOAT-TV reported.
Wilson was a student at Farmington High School, Deputy Chief Kyle Dowdy said.
“He did have minor infractions as a juvenile but nothing that would rise to the level of any serious crime,” Dowdy told reporters.
Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said that both officers were treated and released from an area hospital.
Seven patients were treated at an area hospital, according to Farmington Fire Chief Robert Sterrett said.
“Yesterday our community was shaken to the core,” Duckett said. “These are the moments when our community must come together and show our true strength, our true character, and support one another, as so many are in pain.”
Dowdy said authorities are still investigating how Wilson obtained the guns. He told reporters that at least one weapon was purchased legally in November 2022. He added that police believe that a family member was the legal owner of the other two guns Wilson used during the shooting.
“The amount of violence and brutality that these people faced is unconscionable to me,” Dowdy told reporters. “I don’t care what age you are, I don’t care what else is going on in your life, to kill three innocent elderly women that were just absolutely in no position to defend themselves is always going to be a tragedy.”
