SAA event in United States of America on Mon 2nd September 2024

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Law enforcement continues to investigate after four people died in an overnight shooting. 

The shooting happened at an apartment complex in northwest Albuquerque. KOB 4 got an update from Albuquerque police Sunday afternoon. 

Police say there’s no one in custody because the man responsible for shooting and killing three people ended up taking his own life. 

“We’re still trying to piece together exactly what happened,” said APD Cmdr. Kyle Harstock with the Criminal Investigations Unit. “Preliminarily, with investigation shows as all four people that are deceased knew each other, and that one of the four people murdered the other three and then took his own life.”

According to APD, the shooting happened just before midnight Saturday at the Valley Apartments in northwest Albuquerque. 

Witnesses told police people were drinking all day and there was an argument that got out of control. One of the victims was getting in a car to leave before the shooting.

“Somebody called his parents to come and get him. They did come and get him, but as he was exiting, him and the shooter continued to argue. He got out of a car, the shooter pulled a gun out, murdered him and then killed the other two people that were in that same car,” said Hartsock. 

Two of the victims were father-son. The father was in his 50s and the son in his 20s. The third victim was a woman in her 20s. The shooter was also in his 20s. 

This is the third murder-suicide in the metro since early August. 

On Aug. 4 police say a 22-year-old man shot and killed his two siblings before killing himself. That was at a house in southeast Albuquerque. 

Then on Aug. 18, officers found three people shot at an apartment complex in southeast Albuquerque. Police say this was also a murder suicide case. 

Hartsock says usually this crime is rare here but:

“They are on the rise out here, and again, you know that speaks to a mental health state or a substance abuse state while armed, those are highly, highly emotionally charged events,” Hartsock said. 

Adding, he knows it’s been a violent month for the city. This year, to date, there’s been 59 homicide cases and 65 victims. With 12 homicides in August alone.

APD says the case is still under investigation. We reached out to the mayor’s office Sunday to talk about this incident. 

We got this statement saying, “We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident, where the combination of a firearm and alcohol led to devastating loss of life. While this event is horrific, I want to reassure the community that it does not pose a broader threat to public safety.”