A 15-year-old boy is in police custody in New Mexico, charged with killing two adults and three children at a South Valley home near Albuquerque Sunday morning, the Associated Press reports.
The teen was identified as Nehemiah Griego. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as Pastor Greg Griego, 51; his wife Sara Griego, 40; and three of their children, Zephania Griego, 9; Jael Griego, 5; and Angelina Griego, 2. The victims were all shot multiple times with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle (similar to the one pictured above in a Getty Images stock photo).
Pastor Griego is the brother of former state Sen. Eric Griego. Nehemiah Griego was booked on two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.
After gunning down his entire family around 1 p.m., Nehemiah called a family friend who called 911, KOB.com reports.
Pastor Griego was being remembered as a kind-hearted, family man.
“Greg loved his family, he loved his church, he loved God, and was very involved with and had love for people in prison,” Brian Nixon, Calvary executive director, told KOB.com. “He headed up our jail ministry, he had a passion for people and to help them.”
Police are also still trying to determine a motive for the shootings. A cache of weapons from the home, including an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle like the one used by a madman who killed 20 children and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, CT.
President Obama, who was sworn in as the 45th president on Sunday, called on Congress to ban assault rifles and high capacity magazines last week.
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Photo: Getty Images
