Both are in custody at the Valencia County Detention Center and have been charged with multiple felonies
UPDATE:
Two suspects are in custody and have been charged in connection with a shooting incident during a “Trump Train” Monday evening in the village of Los Lunas.
Investigators with the Los Lunas Police Department’s criminal investigations division arrested Benito Fernandez-Duran, 23, and Jacklyn Padilla, 29, both of Belen on Thursday, Nov. 5.
The shooting happened after a verbal altercation between several occupants of two separate vehicles. No one was hurt during the incident.
Both have been booked into the Valencia County Detention Center on multiple felony charges. Fernandez-Duran was charged with additional felony charges since he was not allowed to possess a firearm due to prior criminal convictions.
A third suspect, Maria Coca-Padilla, 48, has been charged with tampering with evidence.
LOS LUNAS — An organized “Trump Train” ended Monday evening with a shooting that police are still investigating.
Los Lunas Police Chief Naithan Gurule said two individuals got into a verbal altercation at the intersection of N.M. 314 and Courthouse Road at about 5:45 p.m. on Monday during a parade in support of President Donald Trump.
“One person in one of the vehicles then fired shots at the other vehicle, hitting it,” Gurule said. “That vehicle fled, and the vehicle that was hit chased the vehicle where the shots came from.”
The police chief said the driver of the “victim” vehicle tried to hold the occupants of the “shooter” vehicle for police, but two people — a man and woman — fled before police arrived at the scene, and the driver — a woman — went to the police station.
“We’re still investigating, and detectives are following up,” Gurule said. “Since the two people fled, we had to identify them and we’re trying to locate them.”
Felony criminal charges are pending in this investigation.
Gurule said the man and his daughter who were in the “victim” vehicle were unharmed during the incident.
The police chief said there have been two organized parades in the village that he knows of, one on Monday and another on Sunday. While they haven’t impeded traffic in Los Lunas, Gurule said there was a couple of problems on Sunday.
“We had to investigate one traffic crash on Sunday, and one traffic stop was initiated for passengers not being properly restrained,” Gurule said. “There were a lot of cars out there, but the (traffic) lights controlled the flow and sent groups of cars through at a time.”
Clara Garcia is the editor and publisher of the Valencia County News-Bulletin.
She is a native of the city of Belen, beginning her journalism career at the News-Bulletin in 1998 as the crime and courts reporter. During her time at the paper, Clara has won numerous awards for her writing, photography and typography and design both from the National Newspaper Association and the New Mexico Press Association.
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April 19, 2024
