Motive sought in drive-by killing

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - John Valenzuela was playing football in the snow Thursday when his family heard gunshots and found him dying in a drive-by shooting that has two people in custody and sheriff's deputies looking for at least one more.

Two of three suspects have now been taken into custody after a chase and manhunt.

The shooting happened just before 2 p.m. in the 2000 block of Cordelia SW near Rio Grande High School.  Late Thursday evening a spokesperson for the sheriff's department identified the victim as John Valenzuela, 19.

Earlier deputies reported Valenzuela had been shot once in the chest. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Sheriff's deputies pursued a car in the Westgate neighborhood where two suspects were taken into custody after a foot chase.

However, two other suspects escaped on foot launching a manhunt in the neighborhood.

Students in the after-school program at Carlos Rey Elementary School program were under lockdown  from around 4 p.m. until about 5:30.

One of the two suspects who escaped was later taken into custody, questioned and released, while the fourth person believed to be involved in the shooting remains at large.

The two suspects who have been charged have been identified as Louie Velarde and Lorenzo Velarde.

A motive for the shooting has yet to be established, according to investigators.

A check of records by KRQE News 13 did not find any criminal record for Valenzuela.  He recently had earned his GED and was the father of a baby girl, according to family members.