(Farmington) The shooter who killed three people and injured six others Monday in New Mexico, United States, was an 18-year-old college student named Beau Wilson, authorities said Tuesday.
Police and witnesses said the young man wandered the streets of the small town of Farmington, which has a population of 50,000, shooting at cars, half a dozen houses and passers-by until police arrives on the scene and shoots him dead.
San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrarri told a news conference that officers fired a total of 16 bullets at the suspect.
Two of them were injured but have since been discharged from hospital, Mayor Nate Duckett said.
The shooter had three firearms, including an AR rifle, according to police.
“It would seem that it was completely random, that there were no schools, no churches and no individuals targeted […] the suspect was shooting at random at whatever he was tempted to do,” Police Chief Steve Hebbe said in a video statement released late Monday.
The police department began receiving calls around 10:57 a.m. Monday, and the first officers arrived on the scene at 11:02 a.m., according to Chief Hebbe. Three minutes later, the shooter was shot.
On Tuesday, circles of orange paint still marked the locations where police had collected evidence related to the shooting. Officers were using metal detectors to search the grass.
As night fell on Monday, dozens of people gathered at Hills Church, a few miles from the crime scene. Pastor Matt Mizell spoke of “a dark and broken world” we live in, but told the crowd there was still hope and asked God to provide them with courage.
Several politicians also commented on the tragedy.
Mayor Nate Duckett said in a statement that the shooting “has left us in shock with anguish and disbelief.”
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said she prays for the families of the victims and “this is yet another reminder of how gun violence destroys lives in our state and our country every day.”
Teresa Leger Fernandez, an elected Democrat who represents the region in the House of Representatives, wrote on Facebook that “our beautiful Nuevo Mexico is not immune to the mass killings taking place in this country”. She hailed “the heroes who faced danger to end the violence” and addressed her prayers to the injured and the families of the victims.