Following Friday night’s mass shooting in Las Cruces, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham lambasted lawmakers for what she described as a failure to take action on juvenile crime during the 60-day session ending at noon on Saturday.
Police are continuing to investigate Friday night’s shooting at approximately 10 p.m. at Young Park in Las Cruces that killed three and injured 15 others. The deceased are two 19-year-old men and one 16-year-old boy. The injured range in age from 16 years to 36 years. Police have not, as of publication, released the names of any of the victims, not made any arrests, but are asking that any video be uploaded to a secure site.
The FBI, ATF, New Mexico State Police and the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office also are working on the case.
“The indiscriminate nature of this shooting is both shocking and unacceptable, but sadly not surprising,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “This violence tears at the fabric of our communities and leaves wounds that may never heal.”
The governor said she is mobilizing state resources to support local law enforcement.
“The disturbing rise in violent crime in Las Cruces — which has increased by 46 percent compared to last year — demands immediate and sustained attention. This is not merely a statistic; these are our neighbors, our children, our future,” she said. “The devastating loss of Officer Jonah Hernandez in Las Cruces last year, and now this mass shooting, underscore the Legislature’s years-long failure to address the crime crisis shattering lives and communities in our state. New Mexicans are heartbroken, and they should also be outraged that their legislature will adjourn today without having a passed a single bill to address juvenile crime or ban assault weapons. Their inaction is appalling and unacceptable.”
As such, she noted, “the legislature should expect a special session to address our ongoing public safety crisis.”
Republican State Sen. Crystal Brantley of Elephant Butte also issued a statement that said Friday night she “sat on the floor of the Senate while texts and calls from all over the district — including from the Las Cruces Police Chief — poured in about what was happening. There is no feeling like the helplessness you experience, even from the center of the Capitol building, when a tragedy like this strikes. When we cannot feel safe in our parks — where our kids, my kids, play — there is a deep moral failing by our government to protect its citizens. We must return to a place of safety and stop with the half-measures. Today is another reminder that despite all of our ‘progress’ on crime legislation, New Mexico criminals do not fear the strong arm of the law.”
Julia Goldberg serves as Source New Mexico’s editor, and has reported on New Mexico news stories for more than 20 years.
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