Police investigate string of homicides in ABQ
Officials: Two victims ‘appear to be related’
Albuquerque police said three people were killed in separate homicides Sunday.
The first case happened Sunday morning, when police said two people were shot to death at separate locations in west Albuquerque and a “person of interest” is in custody and being questioned.
Lt. Ray Del Greco, who oversees the Albuquerque Police Department’s violent crimes unit, said from what investigators have been able to piece together so far, there is no outstanding individual “committing havoc in the city.”
“All these individuals appear to be related,” Del Greco told reporters. “This isn’t an isolated incident, and I can’t stress enough that there is no danger to the public right now.”
He said authorities received a call at about 7:45 a.m. from concerned citizens stating that there had been a shooting in the area of 98th and Central NW. Responding officers found a man dead at the scene, Del Greco said. He said that based on preliminary information gathered, there was an altercation inside a Circle K convenience store that spilled out onto a side street, where the male was killed.
“While they were beginning the investigation into that incident, we received reports of another female that was also deceased that may be related to the male that we have deceased on scene,” Del Greco said. The woman was found shot to death at a residence in Southwest Albuquerque, he said.
Del Greco said the person of interest was subsequently taken into custody.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going on,” he said. “We’re trying to piece together, again, relations, how this all unfolded. … It appears this is all related and all of these individuals know each other.”
Later in the day, around 9:30 p.m., police said they were at the scene of an apparent homicide near the 200 block of Richmond SE. Rebecca Atkins, a APD spokeswoman, said a person was found dead outside.
Albuquerque police also launched two homicide investigations Saturday.
Officers were called to Grove and Trumbull SE at 5:30 p.m. Saturday after neighbors reported gunshots. A man was found outside with at least one gunshot wound, police said. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
Police said no one was in custody.
And Saturday morning, people walking on the path in the bosque near Atrisco and Regina NW called police after finding a man’s body. He was partially decomposed and appeared to have been dead “for some time,” Del Greco said. He said evidence at the scene indicated he may have died of natural causes.
He said an autopsy will be done and homicide unit detectives are investigating the death.