Two people were killed and four others were wounded when a gunman opened fire Monday afternoon inside a public library in Clovis, N.M.
A lone male suspect is in custody, police said, but his motive remains unclear.
Police Chief Douglas Ford said two females were killed, and two males and two females were injured. The injured were transported to a hospital across the state line in Lubbock, Tex., Reuters reported.
Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference Monday evening, Clovis Mayor David Lansford credited the city?s police department for its quick and immediate response.
?This could?ve been much worse, but because of their training and their expertise and their courage, it was kept at a minimum,? Lansford said.
Officials have not provided names or ages for the victims or the alleged shooter, pending notification of their families.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene as the shooter entered the library and began firing at around 4:15 p.m. local time.
Lisa Baird told the Eastern New Mexico News that she observed a ?young man? with a handgun fire several shots into the carpet in front of him, and yell: ?Run! Why aren?t you running? I?m shooting at you! Run!?
Baird added she hid under a desk ?and tried to squish up as small as possible,? but could hear the person continue shooting as he moved around the library.
?Then I heard his pants ?shooshing? as he approached the end of the reference desk,? Baird told the newspaper. ?I heard a sound like a phone or something being put on the reference counter at the end of the desk, about four feet from my head.?
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Sam Nathavong told KRQE News 13 that the shooter fired four or five rounds before approaching him.
?He just started unloading, pretty much the whole clip,? Nathavong told the news station. ?I just kept my head down. I threw the table against the door to barricade myself in there. I thought he was coming my way but by then the cops got there.?
Ford said the gunman did not exchange fire with authorities and surrendered immediately when confronted. He did not resist arrest, the chief said.
Police then swept the building to ensure there were no other threats.
A photo posted to the Eastern New Mexico News website showed a male dressed in jeans and a short-sleeve black shirt being led away from the library in handcuffs. Local media identified the shooter as a teenager.
It?s unclear how many patrons were inside the library when the shooting began, although it appears many were children.
One image from the scene showed a Clovis police officer, a rifle slung over his shoulder, carrying a small boy away from the building. Others showed children moving with police behind the relative safety of a parked van.
In another photo, a young woman, appearing dazed and bleeding, is seen being carried into an ambulance.
?This is a very young stage of this investigation,? Ford said, ?so we?re not going to have a whole lot more we can tell you until we?ve had time to finish gathering details and data, and look at everything we need to look at.?
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives indicated it is supporting the local and state police.
Clovis, approximately 200 miles east of Albuquerque, is home to 40,000 residents and Cannon Air Force Base.
Police there have responded to shootings before, but ?not to this magnitude,? Clovis police spokesman Lt. Robert Telles told The Post on Tuesday.
Lansford, the mayor, described the shooting as a ?big blow to our community.?
?We?re all hurting right now,? he said.
Originally Posted by bowieluva
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