Two persons have been detained, according to New Mexico authorities, in relation to an earlier this month shooting outside an Albuquerque baseball stadium that claimed the life of an 11-year-old kid and badly injured another person.
At a press conference, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina announced that Jose Romero, 22, and Nathen Garley, 21, have been charged in relation to the shooting on September 6 that left 11-year-old Froylan Villegas dead and his cousin Tatiana Villegas paralysed from the waist down. The shooting occurred right after the Albuquerque Isotopes game.
“These cowards thought they were tough. They killed an innocent child,” the police chief said during the news conference, saying the shooting appeared to be a case of “mistaken identity.”
Romero and Garley fought with a man who was driving a white Dodge pickup truck during the baseball game, according to a later statement from police spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos. The Villegas family’s truck was fired upon by police when they chased the wrong pickup, according to the police.
“It is our belief that these cowards mixed up the two vehicles and shot into the wrong vehicle,” the police chief said.
“Investigators used cellphone data and social media to track the movements of several individuals,” Gallegos added. “The day after the shooting, the man who was feuding with Romero sent him a message on Instagram indicating they shot at the wrong truck.”
Following the shooting, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a divisive order suspending the right to openly carry a firearm in and around Albuquerque.
Romero was detained on Thursday night, according to Police Chief Medina, who also made it clear that Garley had been detained the previous week.
According to Medina, Romero was sought after for missing a court date linked to a prior drug-related offence.
State Police Chief W. Troy Weisler said at the news conference that Garley was arrested on September 13 after officials discovered him coming back from Arizona with a revolver and around 100,000 fentanyl tablets in the automobile.
The police claimed that both guys were associated with a neighbourhood gang and that additional research connected them to the shooting.
The individuals fired shots from their black Dodge Durango SRT after following a white truck that left the stadium parking area, according to the Albuquerque police.
According to Gallegos, the boy’s mother and the boy’s young sibling, who were also in the truck, were only barely spared by the gunfire.
A temporary restraining order was granted last week by a federal judge to prevent the governor’s decree.
According to U.S. District Judge David Urias, those denied the right to carry a gun in public for self-defence will undoubtedly suffer irreparable hardship as a result of the governor’s decision. Grisham then changed it to only apply to public playgrounds and parks where kids and their families gather.
