Las Cruces marks 35th anniversary of bowling alley massacre

LAS CRUCES – An unsolved mass shooting from 1990 passed its 35th anniversary Monday, with flowers laid at the entrance of a long-shuttered bowling alley where seven people, including four children, were shot on a Saturday morning long ago.

Police said two robbers entered Las Cruces Bowl, shot seven people in an office and then set fire to the room after stealing less than $5,000 in cash and personal checks. First responders were dispatched after Melissa Repass, a 12-year-old who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, managed to call 911.

Three victims were found dead at the scene: Steven Teran, a 26-year-old employee of the bowling alley, alongside his daughter, Paula Holguin, 6; and Amy Hauser, 13. Teran’s stepdaughter, Valerie Teran, 2, died after being rushed to a hospital.

Stephanie Senac, 34, died of complications related to her injuries in 1999, according to police.

Repass survived, as did Ida Holguin, 33, who was not related to Paula Holguin.

No suspects have been identified, despite public appeals by Teran’s family and additional publicity from a 2011 documentary film, “A Nightmare in Las Cruces.”

“The case remains unsolved and Las Cruces police continue to ask for tips that may help solve the crime,” the police department stated in a news release. Additionally, Crime Stoppers of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County continues to offer a $25,000 reward for information helping identify the two men witnesses described.

Anthony Teran, the brother of victim Steven Teran, said the family remains hopeful that, one day, someone will come forward with information to hold the perpetrators accountable.

“It’s been getting harder just to keep up with this every year,” Teran told the Journal. “Hopefully, someone gets over their fear of these guys and decides to come forward.”

Las Cruces Mayor Eric Enriquez opened a City Council work session Monday with a moment of silence commemorating the massacre.

“We still want to keep the victims and their families in our thoughts,” he said.

At the bowling alley, which has been closed since 2018, flowers and a prayer candle were laid in front of the entrance. The candle’s glass chimney depicted a winged angel opening her arms over two young children.

Enriquez also recognized the anniversary of another fatal attack, far fresher in the city’s memory.

On Feb. 11, 2024, Las Cruces police officer Jonah Hernandez, 35, became the first officer in LCPD history to die in the line of duty. Hernandez was stabbed to death while responding to a service call about a suspected trespasser. The incident, in which assailant Armando Silva was shot and killed by a witness, sparked shock and contentious debate about crime, behavioral health and policing of unhoused people in the city.