Police release photos of suspect vehicle in shooting that killed 11-year-old

Albuquerque police released photos of an SUV allegedly used in a road-rage shooting that targeted a family leaving the Isotopes baseball game Wednesday night, killing an 11-year-old boy and critically injuring his aunt in a spray of 17 bullets.

In a briefing Thursday morning, Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Harold Medina pleaded for the community’s help in finding those responsible.

Medina said they put one of “our best homicide teams” on the case.

“All we need you to do is point us in the right direction, and our detectives will pick up the ball from there,” he said during a briefing at Albuquerque Police Department headquarters Downtown. “Think of the people around your circle of life. Think about (these) individuals who are doing wrong and think about your family and what you would want somebody to be brave about and step up and give that information to law enforcement.”

Medina called the apparent road-rage shooting, the fifth such homicide in the city this year and the second fatal shooting involving a child in less than a month, “completely unacceptable.”

While police searched for suspects, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared gun violence a public health emergency in the state, calling the road-rage incident and a recent drive-by that killed a 5-year-old “disgusting acts of violence that have no place in our communities.”

“As a mother and grandmother, I cannot fathom the depth of these losses, and their effects will be felt by families, friends and communities forever,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.

On Thursday afternoon, the Albuquerque Police Department shared a photo of a newer model Dodge Durango SRT as it drove behind the truck that was targeted, moments before the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call 242-COPS.

“Do not approach the vehicle or its occupants,” an APD spokeswoman wrote in a news release with the photos.

Medina said they found bullet casings at the scene and determined a total of 17 shots were fired, three of which apparently missed the truck. Medina said he “would be shocked” if there was only one person inside the suspect vehicle at the time.

“I don’t care how old these individuals are in the end. I don’t care how young they are. They deserve to stay in jail until their case is heard,” Medina said. “And then they deserve adult consequences for what they have done.”

‘Absolutely unconscionable’

The shooting erupted as families were filing out of the Isotopes Park after the team was defeated by the Reno Aces.

Around 9 p.m., officers working traffic control around the baseball stadium heard gunfire, but didn’t know where it was coming from. Then, 911 calls poured in about a shooting.

Police were led to the westbound lane of Avenida Cesar Chavez SE, near University, finding a truck riddled with 14 bullet holes.

Inside, officers found the boy shot in the head and a woman critically injured from multiple gunshot wounds.

The boy’s mother and baby brother, who is only a few months old, were in the backseat.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the boy’s aunt, who is in her 20s, is expected to survive but sustained serious injuries.

It was the second Albuquerque shooting that killed a child in less than a month.

On Aug. 13, 5-year-old Galilea Samaniego was fatally shot when the perpetrators in a drive-by shooting targeted the mobile home she was sleeping in.

One adult and four teens have been charged in that shooting, which police say stemmed from a years-long dispute over a girl.

Keller said to lose a young boy over a traffic issue is “a nightmare experience” for both the family and community. He also called the outcome “extremely angering.”

“This is the kind of thing that should never ever, ever happen in America, or in New Mexico or in Albuquerque or anywhere else,” he said. “... The people who did this have no idea what the consequences are of their actions. And I know this: APD will make sure they know those consequences... They’re going to be an example of how this should never happen.”

Keller said, although the finer details such as where the gun came from or who the suspects are remain unclear, the shooting should serve as a lesson to lawmakers.

“We also have to understand that guns are awash in our community. And they are being used on 11-year-olds, they’re being used on 5-year-olds,” he said, his voice trembling. “... This is absolutely, absolutely unconscionable.”