Text size
A 16-year-old boy in the US state of New Mexico was in custody Sunday after an alleged quadruple homicide of his family members, police and officials said.
The Valencia County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 emergency call before dawn on Saturday from a male minor “who told the dispatcher he had killed his family,” New Mexico State Police said in a statement.
When deputies arrived at the home, located in the city of Belen, the 16-year-old “walked out of the residence with his hands in the air and was extremely intoxicated,” according to the statement.
“Deputies entered the residence to find Leonardo Leyva, 42, Adriana Bencomo, 35, Adrian Leyva, 16, and Alexander Leyva, 14, all deceased from suspected gunshot wounds. A handgun was located on the kitchen table,” state police added.
A Belen official told AFP that the victims are the suspect’s parents and two brothers.
The teen suspect has been charged on suspicion of four counts of first-degree murder, police said.
Fatal shootings are tragically common occurences in the United States, where gun laws are relatively lax and firearms outnumber people.
This year, there have been at least 484 mass shootings — defined as a shooting involving at least four victims, dead or wounded — across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
mlm/jgc
