A fatal shooting occurred at a University of New Mexico dormitory in the early hours of Friday, leaving one person dead and another injured. The incident prompted the evacuation of hundreds of students and a thorough search for the suspect across the campus. The suspect has since been apprehended.
The university administration lifted a shelter-in-place order late Friday afternoon, but the main campus in Albuquerque remained closed due to an ongoing investigation. Students were allowed to return to their dormitories and use the dining hall, but were advised to avoid the crime scene.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller announced the arrest on Friday evening, expressing relief that the suspect was in custody. However, he did not disclose any details about the suspect or the circumstances of the arrest.
The shooting took place during a student orientation at the university, resulting in one fatality and one injury. The area surrounding the student housing complex was cordoned off for most of the day as police vehicles blocked roads and investigators gathered evidence.
According to Lt. Tim Delgado of the University of New Mexico Police Department, the victims were inside a dorm building visiting a student at the time of the shooting. They were not students themselves. The campus was partially evacuated earlier in the day for safety reasons.
The initial alert about the shooting was issued just before 3:30 a.m. Campus police arrived at the Casas del Rio housing center to find two people with gunshot wounds — one deceased and the other with non-life-threatening injuries. A subsequent alert urging people to shelter in place was issued on social media just after 6 a.m.
Casas del Rio is a four-building complex with furnished suite apartments that combined have more than 1,000 beds, according to the Lobo Development Corp. The university, located in central Albuquerque, has about 23,000 students during the school year.
Violent crime, particularly among juveniles, has been a persistent issue in Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city. District Attorney Sam Bregman, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, has urged state lawmakers to take more action to address what he describes as a crisis.