A men’s basketball player from New Mexico State University was injured in an overnight homicide on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, which caused the game between the in-state rivals to be postponed, according to reports.
One person was shot to death near a student residence, according to local authorities, who responded to the school police force’s request for assistance after 3 a.m.
Officer Chase Jewell, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department said, “One individual has succumbed to gunshot injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene.”
Per New Mexico State Police, there was an altercation between a 19-year-old, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and a 21-year-old male, who was transported to the hospital. The 21-year-old was wounded and in stable condition, according to reports.
Neither of the parties involved was named, and police said the name of the deceased was being withheld until relatives were contacted. Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Journal said the 21-year-old is a member of the New Mexico State team. The 19-year-old was not part of New Mexico’s men’s basketball team, a source told ESPN’s Myron Medcalf on Saturday.
“Our thoughts are with all of those impacted by this tragedy,” UNM said.
The New Mexico Lobos are 3-0 while the New Mexico State Aggies are 1-1. A crowd of nearly 15,000 was anticipated at the game, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
This incident comes less than a week after gun violence took the lives of three football players in Charlottesville, Va. On Nov. 13, three members of the University of Virginia football team were gunned down on the Charlottesville campus late Sunday night and two more were injured, police and university officials said.