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Taos County Sheriff’s Office arrests alleged shooter in fatal Blue Bus shooting
TAOS — The alleged gunman in the fatal shooting of a 40-year-old Taos resident on a North Central Regional Transit Blue Bus on Monday has been arrested, according to an update from the Taos County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Steve Miera notified the Journal that Martin Palomino, the 24-year-old suspected shooter in the homicide, turned himself in to the sheriff’s office without incident Thursday and was booked into the Taos County Adult Detention Center. Palomino is charged with first-degree murder. Two alleged accomplices, Jonathan Morales and Sijifredo Palomino, were taken into custody earlier this week.
Deputies responded Monday to a call of shots fired at N.M. 68 and Saint Francis Road, a block from the historic San Francisco de Asís Mission Church, discovering a man on the bus who had suffered “several gunshot wounds.”
The man, identified as Leroy Rodriguez, was transported to Holy Cross Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. According to a hospital spokesperson, the facility was placed on a brief lockdown early Monday afternoon.
The North Central Regional Transit District issued a news release Monday afternoon stating that the sheriff’s office learned that “two individuals fired handguns through the window of an NCRTD bus while it was stopped at the Ranchos de Taos Post Office bus stop. One passenger was fatally wounded.”
Neither the bus driver nor the two other passengers on the bus were injured during the incident, the release added. “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family and to all those affected by this senseless act of violence …”
Sheriff’s deputies worked alongside the Taos Police Department and New Mexico State Police to identify and seize a suspect vehicle, which helped lead to the arrests.
