Police identify suspect, victims in New Mexico shooting

Law enforcement officials on Tuesday identified the women killed in a shooting in Farmington, N.M., on Monday as Shirley Voita, Melody Ivie, and Gwendolyn Schofield. One woman was in her 90s and the other two were in their 70s. All the victims were shot while inside a vehicle, police said. Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy identified the shooter as 18-year-old Beau Wilson, a student at Farmington High School. Authorities said he wounded at least six people, including one Farmington police officer and one state police officer. Police officers shot and killed the suspect about 10 minutes after the shooting began.

Have police released a motive? Authorities said Tuesday that they hadn’t uncovered a reason for the attack, and the suspect was choosing targets at random. Dowdy said the shooter had at least three firearms with him, one of which he purchased legally last year. Several vigils will be held in the city this week. Farmington is a city of 47,000 people in north central New Mexico.

Dig deeper: Read Kim Henderson’s report in WORLD Magazine about the effects of a mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, Tenn.