Three people have died and five more were injured in a shooting at a annual Memorial Day weekend motorcycle rally Saturday afternoon, WRAL reported.
The shooting took place around 5 p.m. in Red River, New Mexico, where about 20,000 people were attending the 41st Red River Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally, according to Red River’s Mayor Linda Calhoun.
Mayor Calhoun confirmed the shooting was gang-related in a video interview with Questa Del Rio News.
The shooting took place between two retail establishments around 400 East Main Street, Mayor Calhoun said, correcting earlier reports that incident took place at a bar.
“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 know if you can get to your car or if it’s in the scene,” Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina tweeted Saturday evening.
Medina said he was having dinner with his wife in Red River around the time of the shooting.
“Prayers for all of the officers out there. This wave of gun violence impacts all of New Mexico, large or small.”
Hospitals caring for the injured include Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, New Mexico and University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. One victim was airlifted to an unnamed hospital in Denver, Colorado, according to the New Mexico State Police.
Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies are securing the hospitals to which the injured were sent for medical care, the NMSP said in a statement.
Holy Cross Hospital is being secured by officers from the Taos Police Department and the Taos Sheriff’s Office, and the Albuquerque Police Department is securing UNMH, according to the NMSP. The agency added that Denver authorities had been alerted to the situation.
Taos Mayor Pascualito Maestas issued an emergency proclamation setting a mandatory curfew for the town in the wake of the shooting in Red River, according to KOAT.
The curfew, which ran from 10:00 p.m. Saturday until 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning, also prohibited alcohol sales at bars and liquor stores.
The NMSP say the scene is secure and there is no ongoing threat to public safety. Additional officers were sent to Red River, and the NMSP requested the public avoid the area while they conduct their investigation.
