NMSU athlete hurt in fatal shooting, school says
A New Mexico State student-athlete was involved in the fatal shooting of a student from the University of New Mexico early Saturday, according to a school official.
New Mexico State chancellor Dan E. Arvizu confirmed Sunday that “one of our student athletes is now in the hospital following an altercation on the UNM campus.” The 21-year-old man was wounded in the shootout and listed in stable condition at a hospital.
State police said a 19-year-old New Mexico student was declared dead at the scene around 3 a.m. Saturday following a shootout outside a dormitory on campus in Albuquerque. Police said the two men had an altercation that led to an exchange of gunfire, which was being investigated as a homicide. How and why they crossed paths remained unclear Sunday.
“We also know that another person has lost their life following that altercation. … Some of our athletics personnel stayed behind in Albuquerque to be with our student athlete,” Arvizu wrote in a letter to students, parents, employees, alumni and fans. “NMSU personnel have been in contact with investigators and have been cooperating with law enforcement throughout.”
Arvizu did not identify the athlete or what sport he played, though the Aggies men’s basketball team had been slated to face the Lobos in Albuquerque on Saturday before the game was postponed following the shooting.
The chancellor added that “additional circumstances surrounding this incident are still being investigated” and it’s important that “no one rush to judgment until all the facts are made available.”
No members of the New Mexico men’s basketball team were involved in the shooting, a source told ESPN’s Myron Medcalf on Saturday.
Police said the name of the student who died was being withheld until relatives could be notified, and authorities were trying to find witnesses to the altercation.
Officer Ray Wilson, a New Mexico State Police spokesman, said officers stopped the Aggies’ team bus “as part of the ongoing investigation into the homicide” as the vehicle headed back to Las Cruces on Saturday afternoon. The bus was later released without anyone aboard being detained, Wilson said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.