Two injured in Roswell school shooting in New Mexico

AAP
Jan 15, 2014, updated Jan 15, 2014

Officials in southern New Mexico say a shooting at a Roswell middle school on Tuesday morning left at least two children injured and a suspect is in custody.

Brooke Linthicum of Eastern New Mexico Regional Medical Centre says the two children were being treated following the shooting at Berrendo Middle School, but she had no information on the type or extent of their injuries.

Roswell police say the suspected shooter was arrested on Tuesday and the school was placed on lockdown. Police say the other students will be bused to a nearby mall where parents can pick up them up.

NEW: Heartbreaking images out of Roswell, NM as parents wait for their children after school shooting – @kimtobinkob pic.twitter.com/g0aiWHrnpF

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“We believe there are injuries but to what extent we don’t know yet,” said New Mexico State Police spokesman Damyan Brown.

Roswell has been rocked by gang violence in recent years and has asked Homeland Security Investigations to step in and help.

Roswell City Councilor Savino Sanchez said he found out about the shooting after receiving a phone call. He said once news of the shooting spread throughout town, residents began to worry. “I know a lot of people are concerned,” he said.

Lorena Beltran told the Albuquerque Journal that her daughter, who attends the school, said a male student was shot in the face.

Roswell police say the school was placed on lockdown, and the suspected shooter was arrested. Age and other details on the gunman were not immediately released.

Student Anyssa Vegara said she was talking to a security guard when she heard a shot.

“I turned around, and all I saw was someone on the floor with their arm bleeding,” Vegara told the Journal.

Roswell is perhaps best-known as the site of an alleged UFO crash in 1947.

One Twitter user, Troy J. Sanders, said his cousin was one of the two injured in the shooting.