New Mexico shooter identified as 18-year-old high school student

Police in Farmington, New Mexico, police released new information Tuesday regarding Monday’s shooting that left three dead, as well as the shooter, and six others wounded.

The person responsible has been identified as 18-year-old Farmington High School student Beau Wilson, who possessed multiple firearms, including an AR-style rifle, according to Albuquerque-based reporter Tessa Mentus.

Wilson is reported to have “randomly” shot at multiple homes and vehicles along Dustin Avenue in Farmington around 11 a.m. Monday morning.

Police say they are still searching for a clear motive and are “investigating how (Wilson) came into possession of those firearms,” said Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy. Dowdy said it’s suspected the weapons used were owned by a family member, reports local CBS affiliate, KRQE.

Wilson used three different guns in the shooting that lasted roughly eight minutes before officers were able to take him down.

The three killed in the shooting were female. The others wounded, including two responding police officers, were treated at a local hospital.

Wilson covered roughly a quarter mile over the course of his attack, said Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe.

Hebbe added that investigators believe the attack to be completely random, with “no schools, no churches, no individuals targeted.”

“The event is difficult to understand,” Hebbe continued. “We are doing the best that we can (to) piece through (evidence), talk with family members of the suspect, piece through what was going on, look through the evidence to figure out what the motivation was.”

During the press conference Tuesday, Mayor Nate Duckett thanked the neighborhood in which the shooting happened, praising people for coming out of their homes and aiding police in their effort to take down the shooter.

A vigil for the victims will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Farmington Museum.

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