Victims ID’d

Three teenagers among 5 killed Thursday night in rash of violence; no one in custody

Three teenagers are among the five people killed in a rash of violence that hit Albuquerque late Thursday, authorities say.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos on Sunday released the names of the people killed in two deadly shootings that took place approximately 15 minutes and five miles apart. The victims range in age from 16 to 77, and no one has been taken into custody in connection with their deaths.

Gallegos said Sunday that both shootings remain under investigation by homicide detectives.

“At this point, it still does not appear the two incidents were related,” he said.

Officers were dispatched to the Rio Volcan Apartments near Ladera and Unser around 8:45 p.m. Thursday where multiple people were shot. Noah Tafoya, 17, was transported to a local hospital where he died.

Police said Friday that the three people wounded in that shooting were in critical condition. One was found in a West Side Walmart parking lot and two more showed up at Presbyterian Hospital with gunshot wounds.

Around 9 p.m., shots rang out at a mobile home park on Lura SW, near Bridge and Goff.

Gallegos said the four people fatally shot there have been identified as Victoria Cereceres, 16, Daniel Alexis Baca, 17, Christine Baca, 36, and Manuelita Sotelo, 77. Two others were wounded.

A neighbor described seeing some of the victims lying in a line as if they had been trying to run away. A friend said the four victims were related and included two young cousins, a mother and grandmother.

Police also responded Thursday night to a shooting at the Casa Bonita apartment complex near Carlisle and Montgomery. Officers said a man was shot in the neck around 7:30 p.m. as he tried to stop a robbery. He was expected to survive.

In an update early Friday, Deputy Chief Harold Medina called the shootings “senseless acts” and asked that anyone with information on the shootings or possible suspects call 242-COPS.