18-year-old suspect charged in shooting at University of New Mexico that left 14-year-old dead

(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 was booked on one count of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence.

Fuentes made his first court appearance in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court on Saturday morning via Zoom. Fuentes will remain in custody and will be held without bond while his case is pending transfer to the New Mexico District Court. He will be back in court next week.

According to court documents, Fuentes allegedly drove to the UNM campus at around 8 p.m. local time Thursday in a vehicle registered to his father.

Fuentes met up with three other people, one of them being a freshman at UNM, and walked inside the Gila Dorm. The four were allegedly playing video games in a dorm room when the incident occurred, according to court documents.

“At some point, for reasons still being investigated, the suspect began shooting a firearm at the other occupants in the room. The 14-year-old victim was fatally shot while the other occupants, along with the suspect, fled from the room,” state police said in a statement Saturday.

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.

One of the victims believed Fuentes was on drugs when he shot the 14-year-old victim in the head, killing him, according to court documents. Fuentes allegedly threatened the other two people in the room, shooting one of them in the head as well. Those two were able to escape through a dorm window to seek aid.

Fuentes fled the dorm room and ended up on the first-story roof of the Mesa Vista building, where police say he allegedly smashed multiple windows, injuring himself.

University of New Mexico Police officers responded to an alarm call at the dorm at around 1:30 a.m. local time Friday. Upon arrival, officers found broken windows and blood, according to New Mexico State Police.

University police then received more calls reporting gunshots and another one from a hospital that a 19-year-old male came in with a gunshot wound and said he had been shot at UNM campus, according to state police.

While conducting a sweep of the surrounding buildings, officers found the 14-year-old dead, state police said.

Police said Fuentes left blood stains, a stolen Glock 9 mm handgun, keys and a pair of jeans on the roof he escaped to. He also left a trail of blood stains as he traveled across campus before being picked up by two individuals in a pickup truck at around 1:40 a.m. Friday morning.

Eventually, authorities said they arrested Fuentes in Los Lunas at around 2:30 p.m. local time Friday on Highway 314.

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.

New Mexico State Rep. Marianna Anaya said new student orientation was underway this week.

“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.”