Man, 18, arrested in fatal shooting in University of New Mexico dorm
July 26 (UPI) -- An 18-year-old man was arrested in the death of a 14-year-old boy and injury of a 19-year-old while playing video games at a University of New Mexico student housing complex in Albuquerque, police said.
The campus reopened on Saturday, the university said in a news release.
The suspect, John Fuentes, was arrested around 2:30 p.m. local time Friday in Los Lunas, 25 miles south of Albuquerque and about 13 hours after the shooting at Casas del Rio housing complex.
Fuentes was taken into custody at 3 a.m. Saturday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque.
He is facing charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence, New Mexico State Police said.
Fuentes was arrested during a traffic stop on Highway 314 in Valencia County.
Several agencies, including state police, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and Albuquerque police, looked for Fuentes.
Fuentes was one of four teenagers playing video games in a dorn room, New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said at a news conference.
According to court documents Saturday obtained by KOAT-TV, Fuentes went to the dorm parking lot in his father's vehicle.
At 10:20 p.m., he met with the 14-year-old and another person, police said.
A fourth person told authorities they were playing video games, and the Fuentes appeared to be on drugs. The victim was shot in the head.
He said they fled through a window.
Police said Fuentes first went to his car and then wound up on the first story of the housing building where he injured himself while smashing several windows. Blood stains, a stolen Glock 9mm handgun, keys and a pair of blue jeans were left on the roof, police said.
Two people picked him up in a pickup around 1:40 a.m., police said.
Gunfire was detected after midnight at the dormitory. At 1:36 a.m., police responded to an alarm from the dorm building.
They found a broken window and what appeared to be blood, Weisler said. Police found the dead 14-year-old inside the dorm. The young teen hasn't been identified.
At 2:30 a.m., a 19-year-old man arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound.
The university first reported the incident at 3:27 a.m. via Lobo Alerts. Central campus had been closed "out of an abundance of caution," the school posted on X.
For about five hours people were told to shelter in place. Late Friday, the university said the campus would reopen Saturday with all planned activities. The dormitory also reopened, the school posted on X.
"This is a tragic incident that has had a deep impact on our entire community," Weisler said.
The University of Mexico has about 22,000 students enrolled but much fewer during the summer. More than 400 students were attending new student orientation and were staying in the dormitories.
"We understand this incident may be especially distressing for new students and their families," University President Garnett S. Stokes said in a statement. "We want to assure everyone that we are fully committed to your safety and well-being."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
22 killed in Russian overnight attacks; Ukraine prison, hospital hit
July 29 (UPI) -- Russian forces overnight attacked dozens of Ukrainian cities, striking a correctional facility in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region and a hospital in Kamianske, killing at least 22 people and injuring 85 others, officials said Tuesday. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine announced the death toll in a statement Tuesday, saying that overnight that Russia attacked 73 Ukrainian cities and villages. Both Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and Ivan Fedorov, the governor of Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, confirmed the attack on the correctional facility. Ukraine's Ministry of Justice identified the facility as the Bilenke Correctional Colony, stating that 17 people were killed and 42 injured in the strike. "Civilians continue to suffer. Another blatant war crime," Fedorov said in a statement. He added on Telegram that the weapons used were high-explosive aerial bombs known as FABs. Yermak also described the strike as a war crime. "And they won't stop unless they are stopped," he said. The Ministry of Justice said in a statement that Russia attacked the facility starting at about 11:28 p.m. Monday local time, hitting the correctional colony with four FABs. The facility's dining hall was completely destroyed in the attack, and its administrative headquarters and quarantine uni sustained "significant damage," according to the ministry, which said the perimeter of the facility was not damaged and there is not threat of inmates escaping. Zelensky said Russian missiles targeted the municipal hospital in Kamianske at 2 a.m., killing three people, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman he identified by her first name, Diana. The strike hit the maternity ward, Sergiy Lysak, head of the regional military administration, said on Telegram. Five others were injured, including two women in critical condition, one of whom was pregnant. He said a three-story building that was not in use was also destroyed in the attack. In a separate attack in the Synelnykove district, one person was killed and two others were injured, he said, adding that a 75-year-old woman was killed and two others were injured, including a 68-year-old man, in an attack on Velykomykhailivska. "Each killing of our people by the Russians, each Russian strike, when a cease-fire could already have been in place if Russia had not refused -- all of this shows that Moscow deserves very harsh, truly painful, and therefore just and effective sanctions pressure," Zelensky said in a statement. "They must be forced to stop the killings and accept peace."
UPI
5 hours ago
- UPI
DOJ files misconduct complaint against Judge James Boasberg
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Monday that a complaint has been filed against a judge who President Donald Trump threatened to impeach. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo July 29 (UPI) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday evening announced that a misconduct complaint has been filed against District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg "for making improper public comments" about President Donald Trump, amid his administration's targeting of the U.S. judicial system. Boasberg, a President Barack Obama appointee, has rejected Trump's attempt to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador to be interned in a notorious mega prison for terrorists, attracting the ire of the president, who has called for the judge's impeachment. The complaint, obtained by both Politico and Courthouse News, focuses on comments made by Boasberg to Chief Justice John Roberts and some two dozen other judges who attended a March 11 judicial conference. According to the document, Boasberg said he believed that the Trump administration would "disregard rulings of federal courts," which would trigger "a constitutional crisis." The Justice Department alleges that the comments deviated from the administrative matters generally discussed at the conference and were intended to influence Roberts and the other judges. The conference was held amid litigation on Trump's ability to summarily deport the Venezuelan migrants, and days before Boasberg ruled against the administration. He also ruled that Trump had deported the migrants to El Salvador in violation of his order -- an order that was vacated in April by a divided Supreme Court. The complaint states that within days of making the alleged comments, he "began acting on his preconceived belief that the Trump administration would not follow court orders." "These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that," Bondi said in a statement on X announcing the filing of the complaint. The Trump administration has attracted staunch criticism from the legal profession over actions it has taken that have been described as targeting the independence of the U.S. judiciary system. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has threatened to impeach judges who rule against him, including Boasberg, described them as "rouge judges," sanctioned law firms and lawyers linked to his political adversaries and has ignored or defied rulings he disagrees with. His administration most recently fired newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Desiree Leigh Grace because the New Jersey judges did not select Trump's pick for the position. The complaint against Boasberg was signed by Chad Mizelle, chief of staff for Bondi, who alleged in a statement that Boasberg's March comments violated the Canons of the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges. "Federal judges often complain about the decline of public trust in the judiciary," he said on X. "But if the judiciary simply ignores improper conduct like Judge Boasberg's, it will have itself to blame when the public stops trusting it." The Justice Department, in the complaint, is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to launch a special investigation to determine whether Boasberg's conduct constitutes prejudice against the Trump administration. It also seeks "interim corrective measures," including reassignment of the cases related to the deportation of the Venezuelan migrants to another judge. The complaint is also the second that the Trump administration has filed against a judge. In February, Bondi filed a complaint -- which is still under review -- against Judge Ana Reyes for "hostile and egregious misconduct" against the Trump administration during litigation on the president's executive order to ban transgender service members from the military.
UPI
7 hours ago
- UPI
4 dead, including NYPD officer, in Midtown Manhattan skyscraper shooting
1 of 4 | FDNY personal, NYPD police officers and emergency vehicles are on the scene after a gunman armed with a rifle opened fire in the lobby of the building on 52nd Street and Park Avenue on Monday in New York City. At least four people were killed, including an NYPD officer, and six others were injured. The suspected gunman was found dead following a barrage of gunfire inside a midtown Manhattan office building that houses the Blackstone investment firm and the headquarters of the NFL. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo July 28 (UPI) -- At least four people were killed, including an off-duty police officer, and six others were injured in a shooting Monday evening at a New York City skyscraper housing the corporate offices of the National Football League and Blackstone. The gunman, who was identified by police as a 27-year-old from Las Vegas, stormed the Park Avenue skyscraper lobby just before 6:30 p.m. EDT. According to police, the man opened fire, before barricading himself on the 33rd floor, where he was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted wound. "The scene has been contained and the lone shooter has been neutralized," announced NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The alleged shooter's body was found next to a Palmetto State Armory AR-15 assault rifle. Police released a photo of the man walking into the building and carrying a long gun in the crowded area just blocks from the Museum of Modern Art and Grand Central Terminal. Officers said they believed the gunman fired at the police officer, who was working private security, as he entered the lobby. Police conducted a floor-by-floor search of the 634-foot skyscraper for those still sheltering in place and to secure the building. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he had been to the scene and would be visiting those injured in the hospital. "I have been on the scene at the shooting in Midtown, and we can report the shooter is neutralized. The NYPD are now searching 345 Park Avenue carefully. If you are in the building, please stay where you are," Adams warned in a post on X. "People have been shot and injured," he said, "and I will soon be going to the hospital." I have been on scene at the shooting in Midtown, and we can report the shooter is neutralized. The NYPD are now searching 345 Park Avenue carefully. If you are in the building, please stay where you are. People have been shot and injured, and I will soon be going to the... Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) July 29, 2025 The Federal Bureau of Investigation also announced it was on the scene of the shooting to support the New York Police Department as it leads the investigation. "Motive is currently under investigation," Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino wrote in a post on X. This is a developing story
