Teen charged in shooting of APS janitor, gun linked to prior homicide

A 17-year-old boy is accused of shooting a janitor earlier this year outside Kennedy Middle School in Northeast Albuquerque.

Daniel Trujillo is charged with attempted murder and unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon in the June 23 shooting.

Police arrested Trujillo on June 30 after he allegedly committed an armed robbery in Northwest Albuquerque, according to court records. The gun he used was matched to the janitor’s shooting and a homicide “months earlier.”

Monica Armenta, an Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman, said custodian Paul Tafoya, 48, still has bullet fragments in his neck and back. She said he has been out of work and is still recovering.

A GoFundMe for Tafoya’s hospital costs raised over $12,000 earlier this year.

“We remain grateful that Mr. Tafoya is still with us and on the mend,” APS Superintendent Scott Elder said in a statement. “Our APS Police detectives who worked this case deserve our gratitude and praise, but the assault is still unnerving. As a community, we must find a way to keep our kids away from violence and protect everyone from violence. We can’t let this continue.”

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Children’s Court:

Officers responded around 5:50 a.m. to a shooting at Kennedy Middle School, near Lomas and Eubank NE, and Tafoya was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the chest and shoulder.

Tafoya told police he found three teens, two boys and a girl, outside the school and told them “to leave the property.” He said one of the boys began to hit him and knocked the phone out of his hand when he tried to call 911.

Tafoya told police the teen pushed him to the ground, pulled out a gun and shot him twice while standing over him. He said the three teens then ran away.

Several days later, Trujillo was arrested by police after an armed robbery near Glenrio and 64th NW. The gun he had on him was matched to the shooting of Tafoya and a homicide being investigated by Albuquerque police.

Tafoya’s phone records showed he was at the school at the time of the shooting, and detectives found a photo in his phone of Trujillo holding a gun days before the shooting.