Two Arrested in Connection with Fatal Shooting Outside Albuquerque Baseball Stadium

New Mexico Authorities announced on Thursday that they have arrested two individuals in connection with a tragic shooting incident that occurred earlier this month outside an Albuquerque baseball stadium. This incident resulted in the tragic death of an 11-year-old boy and left another victim critically injured.

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, during a press conference, revealed that Jose Romero, 22, and Nathen Garley, 21, have been charged in connection with the shooting. The incident took place immediately after a game involving the Albuquerque Isotopes on September 6th. Tragically, it resulted in the death of 11-year-old Froylan Villegas and left his cousin, Tatiana Villegas, paralyzed from the waist down.

Chief Medina didn’t mince words, calling the perpetrators “cowards” and emphasizing that they had taken the life of an innocent child. He described the shooting as a case of “mistaken identity.”

Later, Police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos clarified that Romero and Garley had a dispute with a man driving a white Dodge pickup truck during the baseball game. However, they ended up pursuing the wrong vehicle and fired shots at a truck belonging to the Villegas family.

Mistaken Identity Leads to Tragedy

“Investigators used cellphone data and social media to track the movements of several individuals,” Gallegos added. “The day after the shooting, the man who was feuding with Romero sent him a message on Instagram indicating they shot at the wrong truck.”

This tragic incident prompted New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to issue a controversial order temporarily suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque.

Romero was apprehended on Thursday evening, while Garley was arrested the previous week. Romero had been wanted for failing to appear in court in connection with a previous drug-related offense, according to Chief Medina. Garley, on the other hand, was detained by state police on September 13th when authorities discovered him returning from Arizona with a firearm and approximately 100,000 fentanyl tablets in his vehicle, as disclosed by State Police Chief W. Troy Weisler during the press conference.

Both men were identified as members of a local gang during the course of the investigation.

According to the Albuquerque police, the suspects followed a white pickup truck that had exited the stadium parking lot and fired their guns from a black Dodge Durango SRT. Remarkably, the bullets narrowly missed the boy’s mother and his infant brother, who were also inside the targeted truck.

Legal Developments

Last week, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to block the governor’s order suspending the right to carry firearms in public. U.S. District Judge David Urias argued that the order could cause irreparable harm to individuals deprived of the right to carry a gun in public for self-defense. Subsequently, Governor Grisham amended the order to apply solely to public parks and playgrounds where children and their families frequently gather.

The investigation into this tragic incident continues.

Note: This article has been written in simple language with short paragraphs for easy understanding.