At least 3 people were killed and others injured in a shooting in Farmington

FARMINGTON, New Mexico – Three people were killed and two police officers were among at least seven people injured Monday when an 18-year-old opened fire in a northwest New Mexico community before law enforcement fatally shot the suspect , the authorities said.

The shooting happened around 11 a.m. in Farmington, a city of about 50,000 people near the Utah border that is a supply line and bedroom for the region’s oil and gas industry.

Officers who responded to several calls about a shooting found a “chaotic scene” where a man was shooting at people on a residential street, Farmington Deputy Police Chief Barrick Crum said during a news conference.

Police confronted the suspect before shooting him. They found three people dead.

Krum did not name the suspect and said he did not know the ages of any of the victims. The police were investigating why he was around.

Seven people were injured, including a Farmington police officer and a state police officer, at San Juan Regional Medical Center. Roberta Rogers, a spokeswoman for the hospital, would not comment on their status.

Both officers were in stable condition, Krumm said.

Mayor Nate Duckett said in a statement that both were shot, but their injuries were not life-threatening.

“Today our community experienced a terrible tragedy that took the lives of three innocent citizens and injured several others,” Duckett said, adding that the shooting “has left us in anguish and disbelief.”

Farmington police did not respond to repeated requests for additional details about the injured.

“There are no other known threats at this time,” police said, adding that officers from the city, San Juan County and state police were involved.

Joseph Robledo, a 32-year-old tree trimmer, said he rushed home after learning his wife and 1-year-old daughter were hiding in the laundry room when the shots rang out. The bullet went through the window and the daughter’s room without hitting anyone.

Rableda jumped the fence to enter through the back door. Ahead, he found an elderly woman on the street who had been injured while driving past. She appeared to have fallen out of the car, which continued to roll without her, he said.

“I went out to see, because the woman was just lying on the road, and to understand what the hell was going on,” Robledo said. He and others began to administer first aid.

Neighbors directed an arriving police officer to the suspect.

“We were saying (to the officer), ‘He’s down there.’ … The policeman just started to act,” Robledo said.

Robledo’s family car was riddled with bullets.

“All last week we were doing yard work. I just thank God that there was no one ahead,” he said. “… Apparently, he did not sympathize with the elderly. Who’s to say he’ll feel sorry for a little kid.”

According to Cram, investigators will now have to examine the crime scene, which spans several blocks. Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.

“What we need from our community right now is anyone who has any additional information, whether it’s eyewitness information, video information or whatever you feel is appropriate,” Crum said.

City schools were placed on what officials called a “precautionary lockdown” after the shooting was reported.

Middle school teacher Nick Akins, whose home is on the street police blocked off, described the neighborhood as mostly a great place to live, with a mix of houses, short-term apartments and churches.

“It’s not the roughest neighborhood in town, but it could be,” he said. “We have great neighbors and rentals, people who come and go. We don’t always know everyone.”

To see Farmington in the national spotlight for another mass shooting, especially one that happened on his street, was surreal for him.

“You would never think it would happen here, and all of a sudden, in a small town, it comes here,” Akins said.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was praying for the families of the victims and that the incident “serves as yet another reminder of how gun violence destroys lives in our state and our country every day.” The Democratic governor did not name other circumstances of the deadly confrontation.

“Gun violence today took the lives of our elders, injured two police officers and paralyzed the small community of Farmington in fear,” U.S. Rep. Teresa Legere Fernandez, a Democrat whose district includes the area, said on Facebook. “I praise the heroes who drove into danger to stop the violence. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured and the families of those we lost.”

“Our beautiful Nueva Mexico is not immune to the mass shootings that are happening all over the country – every single one. Single. Day,” says the message.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said agents from Phoenix were headed to Farmington to assist in the investigation.

Farmington is located near where New Mexico borders Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. In recent years, coffee shops and breweries have sprung up downtown alongside decades-old businesses that sell Native American crafts, from silver jewelry to woolen goods.

Last month, Farmington police shot and killed a man outside their front door after they went to the wrong address while responding to a domestic violence call.