CNN
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[Breaking news update, posted at 4:38 p.m. ET]
Police in Farmington, New Mexico, released chilling video of Monday’s shooting and provided details of how residents rushed to help the victims.
Chief Steve Hebbe described a chaotic scene in the neighborhood. Three people were killed and six were injured in the mass shooting. He said the residents helped the officers track the gunman’s trail.
CNN is looking at the videos and will update this article soon.
[Previous update, posted at 3:24 p.m. ET]
A high school student used his newly purchased AR-15-style rifle to unleash a barrage of bullets from his backyard before continuing his deadly rampage through a New Mexico neighborhood. – left three people dead, six others injured and another community wondering if the tragedy could have been prevented.
While the motive remains a mystery, new details may emerge Thursday afternoon when Farmington police released body camera footage from Monday’s mass shooting.
Police say Beau Adam Wilson bought his assault-style weapon in November, about a month after his 18th birthday. He began the deadly rampage by firing his rifle indiscriminately from his backyard, Farmington police said.
Wilson then dropped his AR-15-style rifle and went on a rampage, walking through the neighborhood and shooting at houses and cars at random, police said.
Three old women were killed. The gunman was killed by the police. And another seemingly safe place in America – a residential neighborhood – now faces the horror of a shooting.
But Farmington is far from alone. In just the first five months of this year, US communities suffered at least 227 shootings, with at least four victims shot in each incident.
The gunman, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, fired at least 141 rounds from his backyard with a rifle Monday morning before throwing it into some bushes and leaving the property with two guns, officials said.
The shooter was walking through the neighborhood and “randomly shooting whatever came into his head to shoot,” before police shot him, Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said in a video statement.
“No schools, no churches, no individuals were targeted,” he said.
More than 200 911 calls flooded in to authorities as gunshots ripped through the neighborhood, located in a commercial hub near Southwest’s Four Corners.
Armed with a .22-caliber and 9 mm gun, the killer kept shooting while walking to the church, where he was killed by the police, said Hebbe.
Mass shooting kills three women on morning drives.
Family photo
73-year-old Melody Ivie and her mother were killed in the mass shooting.
Gwendolyn Schofield, 98, and daughter Melody Ivie, 73, died in their car.
Shirley Voita, 79, who was also shot in a car and later died at a hospital, authorities said.
Voita Family/Farmington Police Department
Shirley Voita, 79, was one of the three women killed.
The six people who were injured included Farmington police Sgt. Rachel Discenza, who was shot during the fight with the killer. New Mexico State Police officer Andreas Stamatiadas was shot while driving to the scene.
Both officers have been released from the hospital, along with four other injured victims, Farmington Deputy Chief Baric Crum said.
More than 150 shell casings were scattered in the neighborhood in a “vast and complex landscape” that stretched for more than a quarter of a mile, authorities said.
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In total, the killer blew up three cars and six houses, although none of the victims were in a residence.
“The amount of violence and brutality that these innocent people face is something I can’t imagine,” said Deputy Chief Kyle Dowdy.
“I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care what else is going on in your life. The killing of three innocent elderly women who were in no position to defend themselves will always be a tragedy.
In addition to the AR-15-style rifle Wilson bought a month after his 18th birthday, authorities believe two of the guns used in the rampage were legally owned by a family member. . Investigators are trying to determine how the killer got hold of them.
The gunman also bought three magazines for the rifle two days before the raid, the police chief.
Besides the three weapons used in the attack, 10 more guns and 1,400 bullets were found in the shooter’s house, said the chief.
After the gunman was killed, authorities found a short, handwritten note in his pocket and were trying to “piece together” the meaning of the note, Hebbe said.
Wilson had “minor infractions” with law enforcement before the violent attack, Dowdy said.
Susan Montoya Bryan/AP
Community members sing during a prayer vigil Monday in Farmington, New Mexico.
Some relatives interviewed by law enforcement expressed concerns about Wilson’s mental health, the deputy chief said, but it was unclear if he had been diagnosed with any issues.
“We’ll end up finding out in the next few days what medication he’s on, if he’s under a doctor’s care in one way or another,” said Hebbe.
The attack left Farmington “shaken to the core by an unthinkable incldent that robbed families of their loved ones,” said Mayor Nate Duckett.
It came just one day before graduation at Farmington High School, where the gunman was a student.
