No injuries found in reported shooting
Tuscany at St. Francis incident ties up traffic, forces nearby students to shelter; investigation continues
Santa Fe police remained at the midtown Tuscany at St. Francis apartments well into the night Tuesday following reports of an afternoon shooting at the complex that closed Siringo Road and led to an hourslong negotiation attempt and traffic backups.
The Santa Fe Police Department received reports of shots fired after 3 p.m. at the complex, near the intersection of Siringo Road and St. Francis Drive, acting Chief Andrew Padilla said. Police closed Siringo Road for hours as officers, including SWAT team members, attempted negotiations at an apartment in the complex, where they believed people involved in the incident had fled.
Ultimately, however, no one was found inside the apartment, police spokesman Greg Gurulé said late Tuesday.
The shooting and police response also required students and staff at two nearby schools to shelter in place just as the school day was ending.
By 6 p.m., all students at St. Michael’s High School and Milagro Middle School had been released, Siringo had reopened and police had started allowing people back into the apartment complex. Sometime thereafter, the police loudspeaker went silent. By 7 p.m., most residents of the complex were moving freely in and out of the property, with the exception of those in the southwest corner, which was still blocked by police vehicles.
At 9:30 p.m., police announced via text alert that the situation at the scene had been cleared up.
Gurulé told The New Mexican that officers’ entry into the apartment was uneventful because no one was inside. Officers made no arrests, Gurulé said, but the investigation remained active as police continued to conduct interviews.
Police had not found anyone with injuries related to the reported shooting, Gurulé added.
One neighbor, who declined to give a name, said shots were fired near Building 2 at the Tuscany at St. Francis complex.
A group of eight or so young people, between about 18 and 25, had started arguing outside the apartment building, the neighbor said. Then there were shots and a scream, and a few young men with a gun ran to an upstairs unit in Building 2. Police sirens came shortly after, the neighbor said.
“When you hear a lot of shots like bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, you’re going to want to run
and hide,” said the neighbor, who was visibly shaken. “… It was just fast.”
Meanwhile, police asked students and staff at St. Michael’s High, just northeast of the apartment complex, to shelter in place around 3:15 p.m., said school President Taylor Gantt.
Milagro Middle School, just south of St. Michael’s High, was ordered to shelter in place at 3:30 p.m., just as students were preparing to leave for the day, said Santa Fe Public Schools spokesman Jeff Gephart. While the action didn’t affect the school day, he said, it did delay the school’s release time.
After nearly two hours of sheltering in their classrooms, Gantt said, St. Michael’s students were released, class by class, to Botulph Road, where parents began picking them up around 5 p.m.
A message posted at 5:25 p.m. on the Milagro Middle School website said all students there had just been released.