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Jose Romero, 22, and Nathen Garley, 21 were held for the
shooting which spurred Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to
temporarily suspend firearm carry rights for a "cooling off
period" in one of the most violent U.S. cities.
Her unprecedented move pulled New Mexico into a national debate
on gun rights and public safety.
Froylan Villegas was killed and his cousin Tatiana Villegas, 24,
paralyzed from the waist down when more than a dozen shots were
fired into their pickup truck as it left a minor-league baseball
game on Sept. 6.
Investigators initially thought it was an act of road rage but
police said the suspects appeared to have mistaken the truck for
a similar vehicle owned by a man they were in a feud with.
“It is our belief that these cowards mixed up the two vehicles
and shot into the wrong vehicle,” Albuquerque police chief
Harold Medina told reporters.
Lujan Grisham's emergency health order suspending open and
concealed carry rights met bipartisan backlash as
unconstitutional and was challenged by gun rights advocates. The
move was supported by New Mexico gun control proponents and the
Catholic archbishop of Santa Fe.
The ban was suspended by a federal court judge on Sept. 13 on
grounds it violated U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
The Democratic governor last week narrowed her health order to
just parks and playgrounds.
Police said Romero was already wanted for failing to appear in
court for alleged drug dealing while Garley was arrested with
about 100,000 fentanyl tablets in his vehicle.
It was not immediately possible to identify lawyers for the men.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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