‘We can’t let the bad take over’: Young Park reopens after Las Cruces shooting

LAS CRUCES — It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and bright hot sun. Ten people ringed the fishing pond at Young Park. Ducks glided toward passers-by hoping for food. Children ran across the grass and laughed.

Roberto Lujan and a friend were fishing for trout, as they do here most Sundays. Lujan, 72, tossed most of his catches back but planned to take two home for dinner.

“We can’t let the bad take over,” he said. “We have to continue to be positive in this kind of situation.”

The city park reopened to the public Sunday morning. From late Friday night through Saturday, it was cordoned off with yellow police tape as officers combed the Walnut Street entrance and park grounds for bullet casings after a gun fight that wounded 15 people and killed three.

In the parking lot, dark tread marks and elongated loops were left from the gathering that drew hundreds to the park Friday night for an unsanctioned event featuring modified cars, loud engines and drivers doing donuts and burnouts, grinding their tires into the pavement and raising smoke.

The parking lot offered other memorials to what transpired here Friday night: Trees grazed by bullets, stray first-aid items and bloodstained gauze.

Las Cruces police charged four people on Sunday. Tomas Rivas, 20, and three unidentified teenagers have each been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Police believe that an altercation between two groups of people at the event prompted a burst of gunfire at approximately 10 p.m.

Throughout the day, visitors walked the lot, taking in the scene where Las Cruces’ worst mass-casualty shooting in 35 years took place. Fifty people participated in a mid-afternoon demonstration organized by Victory Outreach International on both sides of Walnut Street.

Family members of those killed or wounded looked for signs of where their loved ones had suffered. And others spoke of taking their park back and returning to normalcy.

Visiting his home city, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., gave a news conference downtown promising to work with city leaders on creating spaces for safe car show events.

“Clearly what we saw at Young Park was a chaotic event,” Vasquez said. “A lawless event where folks were not only in danger from firearms but people were in danger from being run over from cars that were spinning out in the parking lot.”

In the evening, a congregation of people that reached about 400 at its peak gathered in the parking lot, including family members and loved ones of those killed and injured Friday. Small groups of teenagers stayed close together while family members of the victims, of all ages, sat by candles, flowers and balloons tied to trees. A community from Victory Outreach International and other church groups led prayers and distributed bottles of water as families and friends held one another in their grief as the sun set.

“Young Park is a place where our community comes together, where families gather, and children play,” state Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces, wrote on social media. “An incident like this shakes our sense of safety and reminds us of the urgent need to address violence in our neighborhoods. Now, more than ever, we must stand together to keep our parks, streets, and homes safe for everyone.”

At about 8:30 p.m., as dozens still lingered in the light of street lamps, an urgent rumor spread through the park that someone was planning to begin shooting again. Hurriedly, people climbed into cars and pickup beds as vehicles cleared the park in a hurry.

Within minutes, several Las Cruces police units arrived.

Family, friends and community members mourn the loss of three killed in shootout at park in Las Cruces