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Friday, October 30, 2009
Three Held, One Sought in Drive-By
By Jeff Proctor
Journal Staff Writer
Authorities had three suspects in custody and were searching for another after a drive-by shooting in the South Valley left a man dead Thursday afternoon.
John Valenzuela, 19, was killed in the shooting, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Erin Kinnard Thompson said.
Valenzuela's uncle, Roger Valenzuela, said his nephew, whom he referred to as Johnny, and some friends had been playing football in the street in front of the family's home on the 2000 block of Cordelia SW.
"And then this little white car drove by and just started shooting," Roger Valenzuela said. "They play out in the street every day."
The Sheriff's Department on Thursday night was questioning the three suspects in custody, Thompson said.
A motive for the shooting, which occurred around 2:30 p.m., had not been determined.
Roger Valenzuela said his nephew graduated from Rio Grande High School and was not involved with any gangs.
Several of John Valenzuela's friends and family members had gathered near the site of the shooting Thursday afternoon.
The search prompted police to lock down nearby schools, including Truman Middle School and Edward Gonzales, Helen Cordero, Mary Ann Binford and Carlos Rey elementary schools. They were locked down for more than two hours.
However, the search affected students only at Carlos Rey, where an after-school program was being held. The lockdown was lifted at 5:30, when students would normally have been released from the program. Staff, but not students, were locked down at the other schools.
Journal Staff Writers Hailey Heinz and Rozanna M. Martinez contributed to this report.
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