Three people were killed and at least five were injured — including one who has been charged with murder — in a shooting Saturday during a popular motorcycle rally at a New Mexico resort town, according to officials.
The shooting broke out around 5 p.m. on Main Street in the town of Red River, among members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, New Mexico State Police said Sunday. The Department of Justice defines the gangs as “organizations whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises,” including weapons and drug trafficking.
Officers found two dead at the scene, and six injured people were transported to hospitals, including one who was airlifted to a Denver hospital, the state police said. One of the injured who was transported to a local hospital was later pronounced dead, according to police, who said all eight victims were members of the motorcycle gangs.
State police on Sunday identified the deceased as Anthony Silva, 26 of Los Lunas, Randy Sanchez, 46 of Albuquerque and Damian Breaux, 46 of Socorro.
One of the injured, Jacob David Castillo, 30, of Rio Rancho, was charged with an open count of murder, state police said. He is currently hospitalized and will be booked into the Taos County Detention Center upon his release, according to police.
Another person injured — Christopher Garcia, 41, of Texas — was charged with cocaine possession and booked into the Taos County Detention Center following his release from the hospital.
Mathew Charles Jackson, 39, of Austin, Texas was also booked into the detention center after being charged with unlawful carrying of a firearm in a liquor establishment. It is unclear if he was counted among the injured.
Police said “the remaining four individuals” injured have not been charged with a crime. That would bring the total injured to at least six, despite the fact that police earlier said there were only five surviving injured victims.
A spokesperson for New Mexico State Police could not be reached through by phone or multiple emails to explain the discrepancy. The extent of the injures was not immediately available.
There are more than 300 active outlaw motorcycle gangs across the country, according to the DOJ, which says five of the gangs — the Hells Angels, Mongols, Bandidos, Outlaws, and Sons of Silence — “pose a serious national domestic threat” and conduct most of the criminal activity, including international drug smuggling. It was not immediately clear which gangs were allegedly involved in Saturday’s shooting.
Police said earlier that the scene is secure and there is “no ongoing threat to public safety.” The Phoenix field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the federal agency is assisting state police in the investigation.
Red River, a resort town of 675, northeast of Taos in a range at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains, was expecting nearly 30,000 people over the weekend as part of the 41st annual Red River Memorial Motorcycle Rally.
Events connected to the rally include music performances, according a website for the event.
In a post on the town’s Facebook page, Mayor Linda Calhoun said the crime scene included most of Main Street. State and local law enforcement recommended only essential businesses outside the investigation area stay open, and requested that others remain closed Sunday, she said.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said in a tweet that he was having dinner with his wife in Red River at the time of the shooting, and that he is originally from the town, which is about 170 miles northeast of Albuquerque.
“Prayers for all impacted by todays [sic] shooting in my hometown,” Medina tweeted.
“What a helpless feeling not having a badge, gun or radio as State Police officers and others enter the restaurant and slowly everything closes down and you don’t even know if you can get to your car or if it’s in the scene,” he added.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was in contact with Calhoun and law enforcement regarding the shooting. “My thoughts are with the Red River community following this violent incident,” she tweeted.
In a joint statement, New Mexico Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, and Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández, Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez, said they are “heartsick” over the shooting, adding that it “desecrated a decades-old, cherished community gathering.”
The politicians also called for greater action to prevent gun violence, noting that the Red River shooting came less than two weeks after an 18-year-old gunman fatally shot three elderly women and wounded two police officers in Farmington, a city 230 miles west of Red River.
“We cannot let these events become normal,” they said. “We must do more to prevent gun violence.”
