At least three dead and others injured in shooting in New Mexico, police say

Farmington, NM • At least three people were killed and several others injured after a shooting in Farmington on Monday, police said, and schools across the city were locked down.

“There are multiple civilian casualties,” Farmington Police reported via Facebook, adding that a suspect was “confronted and killed at the scene.”

Two officers were shot dead, including a member of the city police force and one from the New Mexico State Police, the statement said. Both were reportedly in stable condition at San Juan Regional Medical Center.

“The suspect’s identity is unknown and no other threats are known to exist at this time,” police said, adding that city, San Juan County and state police were involved.

The shooting was reported just after 11 a.m. in the Brookside Park area and all city schools were placed on what was called a “preventive lockdown.” Three nearby schools remained in a state of emergency.

Megan Mitchell, an officer with the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, called the incident “an open and active ongoing investigation.” Mitchell said she didn’t have any more information right away.

Federal agents from Phoenix were en route to Farmington, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said via Twitter.

Farmington is a city of nearly 50,000 people in northwestern New Mexico, near the Four Corners region. It serves as a modern day trading post for the adjacent Navajo Nation and is a supply line and sleeping community for the region’s oil and natural gas industry.

In recent years, decades-old shops selling Native American crafts, from silver jewelry to wool weaving mills, cafes and breweries have sprung up downtown alongside decades-old businesses. Itinerant Broadway shows make regular stops at the community center’s sprawling auditorium, while rural properties on the outskirts of town are littered with dismantled oilfield equipment.