Las Cruces community recounts Young Park shooting

Zanaya Hernandez just graduated college and chose to celebrate by visiting her family in Las Cruces for the weekend. She did not expect her trip would include leaving flowers at her friend’s memorial at Young Park.

Hernandez was friends with Jason Gomez, 18, who lost his life along with Andrew Madrid, 16, and Dominick Estrada, 19, on March 21, during what police are calling a gun fight between two groups during an unauthorized car show at the park.

On last Friday evening, 18 people were caught in the crossfire of what some witnesses are calling, “a jealous fight.” Three of the 18 shot have died, while 15 were transported to area hospitals.

“Some car just got done doing their tricks, and there were other cars popping tricks as well so, at first, we heard the first two but after, we just heard shot after shot after shot. I saw my brother turn around and look at me and the look he gave me, [it was] like he pushed me to run,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said that when she heard bullets, everyone began to scramble and hide underneath vehicles.

“I wanted to get in and go but my brother was just like, run. And thankfully I listened. They shot the front tires,” she said. She added, pointing at a bullet hole in her family’s car, “If I would have left, I would have been shot,” Hernandez said. “I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Craig Theriault, a disabled and retired first responder, is a car enthusiast who visited the park on Monday. He recalled the final moments he held one of the victims in his arms Friday night. He said it all started when one car backfired, then suddenly shots began to ring out.

“I saw a young man fall and an older man fall. As soon as I ran over there, I took my shirt off immediately because I saw a bullet wound in his (the young man’s) head and I reached for the back of his head, and I felt an exit wound so I knew I had to wrap him. I wrapped him really tight, and I just held him as tight as I could,” he said.

Theriault said he continued to hold the victim until EMTs arrived.

“I couldn’t do nothing but pray,” he said as he held back tears. “I told him it was going be okay, and that God loves him, that he would stay with us. To stay strong. He stayed breathing until the EMT’s got there to tourniquet him properly. I tried my best, but I couldn’t save him.”

Car meets

Hernandez said car meets are a way to have fun and allow young people a way to show off their car projects. She added that it has nothing to do with guns.

“People who are putting that together are like ‘oh, that’s what car meets are.’ That has nothing to do with the meet,” she said.

Theriault said he also regularly attends car meets and has never encountered gun violence.

Hernandez said she is grateful she survived.

“I’m glad I’m here. I’m thankful I’m alive because I was right in front of our vehicle, watching everyone do their thing and next just boom, boom, boom and my brother runs. It was just crazy,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez’s mom, Nikkole Silva, who also visited the park on Monday, said now her daughter must live with the trauma of the shooting along with the grief for the loss of her brother’s best friend.

“I wasn’t here but my kids were. There are bullet holes on the other side of my car. If my son hadn’t grabbed my daughter and pulled her to the other side of the car to hide, she would have been shot,” Silva said.

Alleged shooter Tomas Rivas’ first appearance in court

On Monday, March 24, a judge told Tomas Rivas he may have to face a grand jury.

The criminal complaint says that one witness recognized and identified Rivas and his brother as the shooters.

Two witnesses allegedly said they observed two groups arguing before they saw guns taken out and the shooting began.

One witness provided vehicle information for Rivas which was a 4-door, black Mercedes with a temporary license plate, according to the complaint.

“That officers were conducting mobile surveillance and observed the defendants drive to 1835 Rentfrow building D, in Las Cruces where one of the defendants (the 15-year-old) exited the vehicle, walked up to the dumpster on the side of the apartment and placed a tan in color bag inside,” according to court documents.

After a search warrant was issued, investigators allegedly found four guns. According to court documents, all four were black, semi-automatic, 9MM, .40 caliber and .45 caliber handguns that were believed to have been used during the Young Park shooting.

Investigators allegedly were able to recover footage of the 15-year-old defendant fleeing the scene as a driver along with Rivas.

“The scene was processed by the crime scene unit of the Las Cruces Police Department and spent shell casings belonging to a 9mm, .40 cal, and .45 cal. The shell casings located at the scene matched the firearms that were discovered at 1835 Rentfrow Ave.,” according to court documents.

Rivas has no criminal history in Las Cruces but faces charges in El Paso, Texas.

He has pending charges for four counts of smuggling individuals and evading arrest in El Paso County. He was also arrested for Transporting an Alien who is Unlawfully Present in the United States, according to court records.

Rivas listed his occupation as a car hop from Sonic who lived in Las Cruces for a significant amount of time, according to court records.

“Defendant has a history of criminal activity which appears to be gang related,” the court documents state.

The state of New Mexico has issued an order to temporarily deny release to keep Rivas in state custody while awaiting a pretrial detention hearing.

“The state requests that the District Court set this matter for a hearing wherein the State will prove by clear and convincing evidence that no release conditions will reasonably protect the safety of any other person or the community. The state intends to proceed to grand jury indictment in this matter,” court documents state.