According to authorities, a shooting that took place on Saturday at a well-attended motorcycle gathering in a resort town in New Mexico resulted in at least three fatalities and five injuries.
It was unknown how many people were hurt in the shooting in Red River. One of the injured, according to the New Mexico State Police, was transported to Denver for medical care.
“I can confirm 3 dead and 5 injured,” Red River Mayor Linda Calhoun said. One person died at the hospital, she said.
According to state police, the five injured people were receiving medical attention.
Calhoun said that the shooters had been captured in the event, which featured motorcycle gang members, in a video interview with the Questa Del Rio News. These specifics were later confirmed by Calhoun to NBC News.
The state police had no details regarding any possible suspects or arrests. The location is safe, according to police, and there is “no ongoing threat to public safety.”
According to Calhoun, the shooting took place outside two shops on Main Street of the town at around 5 o’clock.
In the early evening, state police reported that they were looking into a gunshot in the community.
The federal agency is supporting state police in their investigation, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Phoenix field division.
The 41st annual Red River Memorial Motorcycle Rally was scheduled to take place this past weekend in the resort town of 675, which is located northeast of Taos in a range at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains.
According to the event website, there will be musical acts at the gathering.
Calhoun claimed that the majority of Main Street was the crime scene in a post on the town’s Facebook page. Only necessary companies outside the investigation area should remain open, according to state and local law enforcement, she said. All other businesses should be closed on Sunday.
Harold Medina, the chief of the Albuquerque Police Department, revealed in a tweet that he was in Red River, roughly 170 miles to the northeast of Albuquerque, enjoying dinner with his wife when the shooting occurred.
Prayers for all impacted by todays shooting in my home town. Was a great day as I having dinner with my wife in Red River. What a helpless feeling not having a badge,gun or radio as State Police officers and others enter the restaurant and slowly everything closes down and you pic.twitter.com/7TcC1LYIYv
— APD Chief of Police (@ABQPoliceChief) May 28, 2023
The governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, claimed to have spoken to Calhoun and law enforcement about the shooting. She tweeted, “My thoughts are with the Red River community following this violent incident.”
I am in close contact with the mayor of Red River and law enforcement on the response to the shootings earlier today. Please continue to avoid the area and look for updates from @NMStatePolice.
My thoughts are with the Red River community following this violent incident. https://t.co/wtXw12NzBv
— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) May 28, 2023
The senators and representatives from New Mexico, Teresa Leger Fernández, Melanie Stansbury, and Gabe Vasquez, released a statement in which they expressed their “heartsickness” over the massacre and stated it “desecrated a decades-old, cherished community gathering.”
The legislators demanded more be done to stop gun violence, pointing out that less than two weeks before to the killing in Red River, a shooter aged 18 killed three elderly women and injured two police officers in Farmington, a city located 230 miles to the west of Red River.
“We cannot let these events become normal,” they said. “We must do more to prevent gun violence.”
