The bullet-ridden bodies of three adults and two children were found inside an Albuquerque, N.M., home late Saturday, authorities confirmed today.
A teenage boy was arrested and is being charged with two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death, according to Deputy Aaron Williamson of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department.
The name of the boy has not been released, and his motive and connection to the victims was not immediately known, Williamson said.
"We're still in the early stages of the investigation, trying to determine, their identity and once we have everybody identified, then we'll be able to determine whether or not there was any relationship among the deceased or the offender," Williamson said.
Authorities responded to the family home Saturday around 9:15 p.m., and found multiple casualties. An assault-type rifle, along with several other weapons, were recovered at the scene.
The victims, including an adult male and female, two girls, and one boy, appeared to have suffered "multiple gunshot wounds," Williamson said.
Final identifications of the victims are currently under way, he said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Nehemiah Griego Identified as Teen Gunman Who Killed Five at Albuquerque Home Located on Long Lane January 20, 2013 by Janet Shan Leave a Comment
NEW MEXICO MURDERS: Bernalillo County police say Nehemiah Griego is in custody and is being charged with two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse leading to murder in the deaths of occupants of a home located at 2806 Long Lane SW in Albuquerque NM. Police believe the teen used an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle in the shooting. Nehemiah Griego lives at the home where the bodies were found, KRQE reports.
LONDON, Ky. — Police say a teenager accidentally shot a 14-year-old friend in eastern Kentucky with his grandfather's revolver.
The shooting happened Saturday afternoon in the Keavy community of Laurel County.
WKYT-TV in Lexington reports (http://bit.ly/T5sloA) three teenagers were inside the home and a 15-year-old was handling his grandfather's .38 caliber revolver in the kitchen. Police say he stumbled and shot the 14-year-old in the stomach.
The victim was airlifted to UK hospital. Tom Cooper, the alleged shooter's grandfather, says he was out of town at the time of the shooting and the boys didn't have permission to be in his home.
Cooper said the shooting victim was out of surgery and recuperating.
A third teen, a 16-year-old cousin to the victim, left the scene before deputies arrived.
And another idiot gun owner brings death to her own family
Breaking: 14-Year Old Accidentally Shoots, Kills 15-Year Old Brother With Mother’s Gun
by David Badash on January 20, 2013
in News
A 14-year old boy accidentally shot and killed his 15-year old brother with his mother’s gun on Saturday n Henry County, Georgia, according to reports.
“The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that charges may be brought against the teenager and his mother, who have not yet been named,” Think Progress reports:
Though the mother left the handgun unloaded, the brothers were apparently still able to use it:
The brothers, along with a friend who was spending the night, had gotten the mother’s handgun, “which at the time had been unloaded,” [Police Sargent] Smith said. “During the course of the evening and early morning hours, one of the boys had evidently loaded the weapon, Smith said. “The 14-year-old at some point pointed the weapon at his brother and pulled the trigger, which resulted in the 15-year-old being struck in the chest area.”
The number of children killed in accidental shootings increased from 68 in 2009 to 84 in 2010, reversing a 20-year decline. There were 851 accidental gun deaths of all ages in 2011, up from 606 the previous year.
Saturday, coincidentally, was “Gun Appreciation Day.” At least five people were accidentally shot at Gun Appreciation Day events, although none fatally. Also on Saturday, a 15-year old teen in New Mexico reportedly shot and killed three children and two adults.
Gun Appreciation Day: 7 Year Old Shoots 5 Year Old Relative With Brother’s Gun
by David Badash on January 19, 2013
Gun Appreciation Day: 7 Year Old Shoots 5 Year Old Relative With Brother’s Gun
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Just as “Gun Appreciation Day” was getting started, a five year old Tallahassee, Florida boy went into his 22-year old brother’s bedroom, and started playing with his seven-year old relative — and the loaded handgun.
The seven-year old boy then accidentally shot the five-year old boy in the abdomen.
Fortunately, the boy underwent surgery and is expected to live.
His 22-year old brother, Cedric Wallace, was reportedly arrested and charged with Child Neglect Causing Great Bodily Harm, according to WCTV.
Every day, more than 30 people die from guns. 32,163 people died from gunfire in 2011.
SAN ANTONIO -- A man in his 40s was in good spirits after accidentally shooting himself in the leg on Thursday night.
San Antonio police said the man was cleaning his gun at the Granada Homes in the 300 block of S. Saint Mary's Street when he accidentally shot himself in the leg around 11 p.m.
The man was talkative and even laughing while emergency medical crews carted him to the ambulance.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico teenager accused of fatally shooting his parents and three younger siblings told authorities he was annoyed with his mother and had been having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, according to a probable cause statement.
Nehemiah Griego, 15, was arrested following the shootings Saturday at a home in a rural area southwest of Albuquerque where he lived with his family. He remained in custody on charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston plans to hold a news conference Tuesday morning, and the teen could make his first court appearance in the next day or two.
A sheriff's detective questioned the teen Saturday night. The statement detailed their conversation.
The teen allegedly told the detective that he took a .22 caliber rifle from his parents' closet around midnight Saturday and shot his mother in the head while his younger brother slept next to her.
Griego told the detective that his brother did not believe him that their mother was dead so he showed his mother's bloody face to his brother and then shot him, according to the statement.
He's accused of then shooting his two young sisters in their room. He retrieved an AR-15 rifle from his parents' closet and waited in a downstairs bathroom for his father to come home. The statement said he shot his father multiple times after he passed the bathroom doorway.
The teen said he reloaded the guns so "he could drive to a populated area to murder more people," according to the statement. His plan, the statement said, was to "shoot people at random and eventually be killed while exchanging gunfire with law enforcement."
Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Aaron Williamson said Monday he couldn't immediately comment on the document.
Detectives have spent two days collecting evidence and trying to piece together what led to the violence.
"There's no other way to say it, except that we have a horrific crime scene down there that we are working on," Houston said Sunday.
On Monday afternoon, the metal gate at the home's entrance was shut, a small bouquet of purple flowers was on the top of the gate and at each side sat religious signs, including one that read: "Jesus is the reason for the season."
The sheriff's office identified the victims as Greg Griego, 51, his wife Sarah Griego, 40, and three of their children: a 9-year-old boy, Zephania Griego, and daughters Jael Griego, 5, and Angelina Griego, 2. All appeared to have gunshot wounds to the head.
Greg Griego was a pastor who had once served at Calvary, one of Albuquerque's largest Christian churches. He was also well-known throughout the law enforcement community for his work as a voluntary chaplain.
Neighbor Terry Wootan described Griego as a man with a big heart. The two sometimes chatted at the mailbox and waved when passing by. Wootan said Griego told him about his time in California when he was involved in gangs and how he turned his life around and found God.
"What he wanted to do was help people, and he would never quit," Wootan said.
The pastor's death has shocked the community, including the Albuquerque Fire Department and the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he volunteered his spiritual guidance.
A records check by the Children, Youth and Families Department indicated no trouble with the family and that Nehemiah Griego had never been in trouble with the law.
"This youth had no history with the juvenile justice system," agency spokesman Bob Tafoya said Monday.
Williamson confirmed there was no history of any emergency calls to the home in the recent past.
Neighbors said they saw the first police cars and ambulances arrive at the home Saturday night. The road was blocked and word of the shootings began to make its way through the neighborhood.
According to the probable cause statement, Nehemiah Griego first told a staff member at Calvary that his family was dead and that he placed the two rifles in the family van as protection before driving to the church. He later changed his story, according to the detective's statement.
Asked if he had told anyone else about murdering his family, Griego allegedly told the detective that he had taken a picture of his dead mother and sent it to his girlfriend.
___
Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Defense attorney weighs in on case of slain family By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press | January 23, 2013 | Updated: January 24, 2013 7:28pm
Nehemiah Griego, 15, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deptartment. Griego is charged with killing five family members on Jan. 19, 2013, including his father, mother, and three youngest siblings in Albuquerque, N.M. Authorities in New Mexico say Griego had reloaded his guns after the attacks and planned to go to a Wal-Mart and randomly shoot people. Instead, they say he texted a picture of his dead mother to his 12-year-old girlfriend, then spent much of Saturday with her. The two went to the church where his father had been a pastor, and Griego eventually confessed to killing his parents and three younger siblings. Photo: Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deptartment
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The public defender who is representing a New Mexico teen accused of gunning down his parents and younger siblings said Thursday that it's too early for anyone to rush to judgment about the teen's mental state, motives or plans.
Nehemiah Griego, 15, is facing murder and child abuse charges in the deaths of his family. They were all found shot to death inside their rural home south of Albuquerque last Saturday.
Public defender Jeff Buckels said the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department has been parceling out limited bits of what he described as "the most damaging supposed 'facts.'"
"This has led directly to a multitude of sensational headlines that threaten to finish Nehemiah's case in the public mind before it has fairly begun," Buckels said.
Family members also have criticized the sheriff's department and the media for their portrayal of Griego in the days following the murders.
On Thursday, Sheriff Dan Houston again described the case as "horrific" and said he stood by the facts as presented in the investigation.
Detectives continued Thursday to pour over evidence gathered at the Griego home last weekend. They were also reviewing text messages and calls between Griego and his 12-year-old girlfriend and security video from Calvary Albuquerque, the Christian church where Griego's father once served as a pastor and where the boy apparently spent much of the day following the slayings.
Authorities have said Griego allegedly reloaded his parents' two rifles and put them in the family van after the early morning slayings and had planned to randomly gun down Wal-Mart shoppers. Houston said investigators have no information that Griego actually went to a Wal-Mart that day.
Buckels also noted that Griego appeared to have had "every chance to carry out such a plan, but did not."
Former police officer and Calvary Albuquerque security chief Vince Harrison told The Associated Press that Griego spent much of last Saturday at the church, wandering the campus as dozens of Sunday school teachers were being trained on how to deal with a shooter.
He was greeted by the manager of the church's skate park and others. But it wasn't until hours later that church officials knew something was wrong.
It was Harrison who called the sheriff's department, and he and the boy drove to the Griego home, where they met authorities.
After finding the bodies inside the house, sheriff's officials took the teen to headquarters. During questioning, he confessed to shooting his mother and three younger siblings in their beds shortly after 1 a.m. with a .22-caliber rifle, then waiting in a bathroom with another military-style semi-automatic rifle to ambush his father upon his return from an overnight shift at a homeless shelter.
Harrison said he doesn't know why Griego decided to come to the church, but that it was like a second home for the homeschooled teen.
"It was a familiar place to him," he said. "I think if he did have in his mindset to do something foolish and start shooting people there also, I think his demeanor was tamed a little bit because he saw people there he knew."
Authorities have said there was no indication Griego intended to harm anyone at the church. The sheriff also said Griego and his girlfriend had spent much of the day together.
A memorial service is planned Friday at the church for victims Greg Griego, 51, his wife, Sarah Griego, 40, and three of their children — a 9-year-old boy, Zephania Griego, and daughters Jael Griego, 5, and Angelina Griego, 2.
On Wednesday night, the church also held an hourlong prayer vigil that drew an estimated 2,000 people.
Pastor Skip Heitzig shared stories about Greg Griego, who also served as a voluntary chaplain at the county jail and provided spiritual guidance for local firefighters. He said Greg was dedicated to helping others find God. Heitzig also urged the crowd to remember that forgiveness and restoration — tenets dear to Greg — will be important as the community moves forward.
Relatives, in a statement Tuesday night, said they were heartbroken, and remembered the teen as a bright and talented musician who played guitar, drums and bass with the church choir. He also was a wrestler who dreamed of following his family's long tradition of military service, and a boy who accompanied his pastor father on rescue missions to Mexico, they said.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico teenager accused of fatally shooting his parents and three younger siblings told authorities he was annoyed with his mother and had been having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, according to a probable cause statement.
Nehemiah Griego, 15, was arrested following the shootings Saturday at a home in a rural area southwest of Albuquerque where he lived with his family. He remained in custody on charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston plans to hold a news conference Tuesday morning, and the teen could make his first court appearance in the next day or two.
A sheriff's detective questioned the teen Saturday night. The statement detailed their conversation.
The teen allegedly told the detective that he took a .22 caliber rifle from his parents' closet around midnight Saturday and shot his mother in the head while his younger brother slept next to her.
Griego told the detective that his brother did not believe him that their mother was dead so he showed his mother's bloody face to his brother and then shot him, according to the statement.
He's accused of then shooting his two young sisters in their room. He retrieved an AR-15 rifle from his parents' closet and waited in a downstairs bathroom for his father to come home. The statement said he shot his father multiple times after he passed the bathroom doorway.
The teen said he reloaded the guns so "he could drive to a populated area to murder more people," according to the statement. His plan, the statement said, was to "shoot people at random and eventually be killed while exchanging gunfire with law enforcement."
Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Aaron Williamson said Monday he couldn't immediately comment on the document.
Detectives have spent two days collecting evidence and trying to piece together what led to the violence.
"There's no other way to say it, except that we have a horrific crime scene down there that we are working on," Houston said Sunday.
On Monday afternoon, the metal gate at the home's entrance was shut, a small bouquet of purple flowers was on the top of the gate and at each side sat religious signs, including one that read: "Jesus is the reason for the season."
The sheriff's office identified the victims as Greg Griego, 51, his wife Sarah Griego, 40, and three of their children: a 9-year-old boy, Zephania Griego, and daughters Jael Griego, 5, and Angelina Griego, 2. All appeared to have gunshot wounds to the head.
Greg Griego was a pastor who had once served at Calvary, one of Albuquerque's largest Christian churches. He was also well-known throughout the law enforcement community for his work as a voluntary chaplain.
Neighbor Terry Wootan described Griego as a man with a big heart. The two sometimes chatted at the mailbox and waved when passing by. Wootan said Griego told him about his time in California when he was involved in gangs and how he turned his life around and found God.
"What he wanted to do was help people, and he would never quit," Wootan said.
The pastor's death has shocked the community, including the Albuquerque Fire Department and the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he volunteered his spiritual guidance.
A records check by the Children, Youth and Families Department indicated no trouble with the family and that Nehemiah Griego had never been in trouble with the law.
"This youth had no history with the juvenile justice system," agency spokesman Bob Tafoya said Monday.
Williamson confirmed there was no history of any emergency calls to the home in the recent past.
Neighbors said they saw the first police cars and ambulances arrive at the home Saturday night. The road was blocked and word of the shootings began to make its way through the neighborhood.
According to the probable cause statement, Nehemiah Griego first told a staff member at Calvary that his family was dead and that he placed the two rifles in the family van as protection before driving to the church. He later changed his story, according to the detective's statement.
Asked if he had told anyone else about murdering his family, Griego allegedly told the detective that he had taken a picture of his dead mother and sent it to his girlfriend.
___
Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this report.
anyone know if this kid was on meds?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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