Authorities in New Mexico have released bodycam footage showing the pursuit of an 18-year-old gunman who opened fire in a quiet neighborhood while residents enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine.
Three people were killed and six others injured, including two police officers, after Beau Wilson unleashed violence in Brookside Park in Farmington — a city 50 miles outside of New Mexico’s four-corners state border with Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Six houses and several cars were also struck amid the gunfire Monday morning.
Police said the high schooler randomly started shooting at homes, traveling nearly a quarter-mile before he was fatally shot by responding police officers.
Bodycam footage released Thursday by the Farmington Police Department captured officers responding to the “hot call,” Police Chief Steve Hebbe told reporters.
“It is as I described, a very chaotic scene,” he said. “It’s emotional to watch it honestly, and I’ve seen it a bunch of times now and talked about it even more. It’s still emotional to watch it.”
The clips show authorities in pursuit of the shooter, who was dressed in all black and armed with at least three firearms, including an AR-15. Hebbe said he was wearing body armor.
“He just took off! White house directly south of the church!” an officer can be heard saying in the footage. “More shots are being fired!”
The pursuing officer urges people to stay inside their homes before he spots Wilson and a very brief firefight ensues.
“Subject is down! Subject is down! Cease fire! Cease fire!” he says.
Body cam from one of the wounded police officers, identified as as Sgt. Rachel Discenza, shows the moment she was shot and then fell to the ground.
“I think I’m shot,” she says as she struggles to get to her feet. “My legs, I think.”
A New Mexico State police officer was also wounded while responding to the incident, Hebbe said. They have both since been released from the hospital. Another four people were wounded in the gunfire.
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Three women were killed in the carnage. They were identified as Shirley Voita, Melody Ivie and Gwendolyn Schofield.
Clips from Voita’s Ring surveillance camera were also released. It shows Voita’s vehicle slowly moving down the street with the door open after she was shot. Footage from a second Ring surveillance camera shows Ivie and Schofield, a mother and daughter, driving down the road in a blue van as the gunman opened fire.
“He is yelling on the Ring footage, ‘Come kill me,’” Hebbe said.
“He’s making a stand, he has opportunities to run off, he does not use those opportunities,” the chief continued. “So, yes, it’s my belief that ultimately, in his head, he has made the decision that he is going to stand and fight it out until he is killed.”
With News Wire Services