Suspect arrested after University of New Mexico dorm shooting leaves 1
dead
[July 26, 2025]
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and MATTHEW BROWN
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A shooting early Friday at a University of New
Mexico dormitory killed a 14-year-old boy, wounded a 19-year-old and
prompted the evacuation of hundreds of students and a campuswide search
for the suspect, who has since been taken into custody.
University officials lifted a shelter in place order late Friday
afternoon, saying there was still an active investigation and that the
main campus in Albuquerque would remain closed. They said students were
allowed to eat at the dining hall and return to their dorms but
otherwise should avoid the crime scene.
New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said officers took a male
suspect, aged 18, into custody at about 2:30 p.m.
Four people, including the suspect, were playing video games inside a
dorm room belonging to one of them when the shooting began, John Silva,
chief of the University of New Mexico Police Department, said at a news
conference.
The 14-year-old was fatally shot and the others fled the room, Weisler
said. A 19-year-old male sought treatment at a hospital and said he was
shot on campus.
Authorities were investigating why the suspect fired a gun, Weisler
said. Police were working with prosecutors to draft charging documents,
he said.
Officials issued an initial alert just before 3:30 a.m. that a shooting
had taken place. Another alert asking people to shelter in place was
sent out just after 6 a.m. Police evacuated parts of the campus.
“We had a student orientation going so there were like 400 kids in
dorms, so we wanted to make sure they were safe,” said Lt. Tim Delgado
with the University of New Mexico Police Department.
For much of the day, authorities had the area around the student housing
complex cordoned off with yellow tape as police vehicles blocked
roadways and investigators gathered.
Mikey Beck, who was staying in student housing this week as part of new
student orientation, said he heard gunshots overnight and saw what
appeared to be an injured person hiding in some bushes. Two other people
jumped out of a dorm window and ran, he said.
Beck said he was excited to start his freshman year but the incident was
disconcerting.
“It’s really sketchy out here. Just being in Albuquerque is really
scary,” he said.
Not far from the dorms, a line of university buses waited for students
to board, many of them carrying backpacks and pulling small luggage
carts with their belongings. The university was conducting a “staged,
tactical evacuation,” spokesperson Cinnamon Blair said in an emailed
statement. People were told not to move without direction from campus
police.
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Authorities investigate a deadly shooting at Casas del Rio (Gila), a
student housing center at the University of New Mexico Central
Campus. early Friday, July 25, 2025 in Albuquerque, N.M. (Chancey
Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
The university in central Albuquerque has about 23,000 students
during the school year. New students like Beck have been visiting as
part of scheduled orientations ahead of the fall semester, which
begins in about three weeks.
An increased law enforcement presence on and around the campus was
planned for coming days, university President Garnett Stokes said in
a letter to the campus community.
“We understand this incident may be especially distressing for new
students and their families who are here this week for orientation,”
Garnett wrote.
Mayor Tim Keller said his thoughts were with the victim’s loved ones
and the university community.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of life that occurred today
on the University of New Mexico campus,” Keller said in a statement.
New Mexico’s largest city has struggled with violent crime in recent
years, particularly among juveniles. District Attorney Sam Bregman,
who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, has
called for state lawmakers to do more to address what he describes
as a crisis.
The plea for legislative action comes amid violence in New Mexico
involving young suspects, including a fatal hit-and-run in
Albuquerque and a shooting in Las Cruces in March that killed three
and wounded 15 others.
Prosecutors, law enforcement and Republican lawmakers have pressed
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to convene a special
legislative session to address the state’s crime problem. Despite
voicing her disappointment with the Democratic-controlled
Legislature at the end of the last session, the governor has not
given recent indications that she will be calling lawmakers back to
Santa Fe.
___
Brown reported from Billings, Montana. Associated Press writer
Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
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