Month: March 2025

Police in New Mexico have arrested two suspects in Friday’s mass shooting during an unsanctioned car show at a park in the city of Las Cruces, which left three teenagers dead and at least 15 others injured. Las Cruces sits on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande River in southern New Mexico (about 41 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border.) The shooting occurred at about 10 p.m. local time on Friday in the desert city’s Young Park, a music and recreation venue. , Police Chief Jeremy Story said there were approximately 200 people in attendance when the altercation between two groups at the car show escalated. Many were injured including bystanders who may have been struck by crossfire; it remains unclear what started the altercation.

The Las Cruces Police Department announced Sunday morning that the suspects – 20-year-old Tomas Rivas and an unidentified 17-year-old male – were each charged with three open counts of murder (“open murder” means prosecutors can pursue charges of manslaughter or murder in the first or second degree, and the specific level of culpability will be decided later). Additional charges were pending against Rivas and the 17-year-old, with Las Cruces Police sharing in a post on Facebook that they arrested the duo Saturday evening: “Rivas will be booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he will initially be held without bond. The juvenile will be remanded to the juvenile detention facility.”

Police also identified the three people killed in the shooting: 16-year-old Andrew Madrid, 18-year-old Jason Gomez and 19-year-old Dominick Estrada. Madrid and Gomez died on the scene, and Estrada died after he was taken to a medical center.  The 15 people injured were comprised of nine males and six females, ranging in age from 16 to 36, with Las Cruces Fire Chief Michael Daniels stating that four have since been treated and released.

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Pope Francis was released from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, where he has been battling double pneumonia for the past five weeks.

The pontiff, 88, made a brief public appearance for the first time since his hospitalization and was seen smiling and waving to the cheering crowds as he appeared on the balcony of the hospital in a wheelchair.  Francis said: “Thank you all,” into a microphone, and appeared to make the sign of the cross. The pope looked frail and struggled to speak, but acknowledged one woman in the crowd who was holding flowers, saying: “I see a woman with yellow flowers. Brava!” before being wheeled back into his room.

The Vatican said Francis left the hospital in his white Fiat 500L and headed to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to pray, where he offered flowers to be placed before the icon of the Virgin Mary Salus Populi Romani. He is expected to return home to Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City, with the head of his medical team saying that he will need at least two months of rest once he returns to the Vatican, while receiving additional medical treatment.

Pope Francis was admitted to Gemelli Hospital on February 14, initially with a case of bronchitis. He was later diagnosed with a severe respiratory infection, and also diagnosed with a “polymicrobial infection” of his respiratory tract as well as bilateral pneumonia. The pope was in critical condition for part of his hospitalization, and doctors said he also suffered two “critical episodes” during which his life was in danger. Francis was given oxygen therapy and at one point he was placed on a non-invasive ventilator, according to medical staff.

While Pope Francis did not offer his usual weekly prayer, the Vatican released a text prepared by the Pontiff Sunday which read in part:  “In this long period of hospitalization, I have had the opportunity to experience the patience of the Lord, which I also see reflected in the tireless care of doctors and healthcare workers, as well as in the devotion and hopes of the families of the sick.”

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