ALBUQUERQUE, NM — A 15-year-old boy fatally shot two adults and three children at a home near Albuquerque, authorities said Sunday.
The teenager was arrested on murder and other charges in connection with the shootings Saturday night at the home in a rural area 10 miles southwest of downtown Albuquerque, Bernalillo County sheriff’s spokesman Aaron Williamson said.
Officials today said one of the victims as a Fire Department chaplain who also worked with jail inmates; the others have not yet been identified.
The boy’s motive and connection to the five victims weren’t immediately known. Williamson said investigators were trying to determine if the victims were related.
“We are trying to identify the victims,” Williamson said.
Albuquerque Fire Chief James Breen says Chaplain Greg Griego’s calming spirit and gentle nature will be greatly missed.
Metropolitan Detention Center Chief Ramon Rustin says Griego volunteered at the jail for 13 years and was instrumental in the creation of its chaplain program.
Each victim suffered more than one gunshot wound, he said.
Investigators also were trying to determine who owned several guns that were found at the home, one of which was a semi-automatic military-style rifle.
Authorities declined to release details of any conversation that the 15-year-old had with investigators.
The teenager was booked on two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.
On Sunday, a police roadblock cut off public access to the narrow dirt road that leads to the home.
Detectives were still processing the crime scene Sunday afternoon.
Peter Gomez, a 54-year-old carpenter who lives about 200 yards from the home, said he saw police vehicles and ambulances arrive Saturday night.
Gomez said he doesn’t know the family that lives at the house, but he has seen a married couple and their two boys and two girls from time to time.
“It’s a horrible thing,” Gomez said. “You see all this stuff that happens all over the country, the shootings in the schools and theaters, and then it happens right here. It’s sad.”