(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — A shooting inside a dorm room at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque early Friday morning left a 14-year-old boy dead and another teen wounded, state police said.
The suspect in the shooting, identified by police as 18-year-old John Fuentes, was taken into custody hours after the shooting during a traffic stop in Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 25 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico State Police said during a news conference Friday evening.
Fuentes is expected to face one count of murder along with additional charges.
According to investigators, several young people were inside the dorm room playing video games when the violence broke out.
The other person who was wounded in the shooting is 19, according to police, and had injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, the university said earlier.
Fuentes remains in state police custody. Authorities said he will be booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County.
The university initially issued a shelter-in-place, which lasted much of the day. By Friday afternoon local time, the university said there was “still an active crime scene” in the central part of the campus, but that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted. The central campus remained closed, the university said.
“Waking this morning to the news of this act of violence has shaken the entire UNM community,” she said in a statement. “It is especially heartbreaking that this occurred during the time of a new student orientation — a time when students and their families should be filled with hope, excitement, and a sense of possibility.”
She added, “This heartbreaking incident is yet another reminder of the urgent need to address gun violence and historical trauma in our state.”
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
- Scandal-plagued former congressman George Santos begins 7-year federal prison sentence - July 26, 2025
- 18-year-old suspect arrested in shooting at University of New Mexico that left 14-year-old dead - July 26, 2025
- ‘Doomsday mom’ Lori Daybell set to be sentenced in murder conspiracy trials - July 25, 2025
