Police identify New Mexico shooting suspect as high school student, motive still unclear

New Mexico police have identified the person who killed three and injured six in a mass shooting on Monday as an 18-year-old local high school student but said they are still working to determine a motive.

Police said Beau Wilson, who has been identified as the shooter, lived in the Farmington, New Mexico, neighborhood in which he opened fire Monday, shooting at random targets. Wilson was shot and killed by police.

The victims of Wilson’s attack were 97-year-old Gwendolyn Schofield, 73-year-old Melody Ivie, who was Shcofield’s daughter, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita.

Police said Wilson was shooting “indiscriminately” and randomly at cars, with some bullets hitting homes. The crime scene spanned about a quarter of a mile, which police described as “pretty large and vast.”

“At this point, we haven’t determined any link between the victims and the suspect,” Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said at a press conference Tuesday. “There’s no indication that that’s going to change. That, we’re pretty confident in — that this was completely random.”

Dowdy also said Wilson legally purchased one of the guns that he used, with the other two belonging to family members, police believe. Wilson used an assault-style weapon in the attack.

Authorities also said Tuesday that two officers — a Farmington officer and a New Mexico State police officer — were injured in the shooting. Both were released from a local hospital after receiving care.

Dowdy said that Wilson had “minor infractions” as a juvenile but said they were “nothing that would rise to the level of any serious crime.”