ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque Police are investigating at least five recent shootings at the homes and offices of two Bernalillo County commissioners, two state senators and the state’s new attorney general. APD says the shootings occurred on five separate days over the past month, with the latest happening on Thursday morning.

APD first announced the investigation Thursday morning, detailing shootings at the homes of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, former commissioner Debbie O’Malley, and New Mexico state Senator Linda Lopez. By the end of Thursday, APD announced two additional investigations, including one at the downtown office of newly-appointed state Senator Moe Maestas and another at the former campaign office of newly-elected New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.

No one was hurt in each of the shootings and police are now investigating each cases to determine any possible connections. However, at a news conference Thursday, APD Chief Harold Medina noted that all of the shootings occurred at buildings either owned or rented by Democratic elected officials.

“We’re grateful nobody has been injured but we also realize we have to move quickly,” said APD Chief Harold Medina at Thursday’s news conference. “We have assigned a deputy commander to this case, we’re implementing what we call a major case protocol, where they will work this nonstop.”

First Shooting in December

APD says the first shooting took place in early December at the home of Commissioner Barboa. APD says around 4:41 p.m. on December 4, someone shot eight rounds at the commissioner’s home in southeast Albuquerque.

“My house was shot up. shots directly through the front door,” Barboa told KRQE News 13 in an interview Thursday. She was hours before the shooting, she was outside of her home putting up Christmas lights with her grandchild.

“At first I even told my partner, maybe somebody threw a rock,” Barboa said. “And then we realized it was bullets and the whole house was shot up and the back door was shot out.”

Barboa served as the chair of the Bernalillo County Commission in 2022. She began her first term in office in January 2021.

Shooting at AG’s Campaign Office, Second County Commissioner

Thursday night, APD said they believe another shooting occurred on December 10. Police alleged shots were reported near the former campaign office of the newly elected Attorney General Raul Torrez.

At the time of the shooting, Torrez’s campaign had moved out of the downtown address. APD says it is evaluation evidence collected from the scene of that shooting.

A third shooting happened one week on December 11, one week after the shooting at Commissioner Barboa’s house. APD says investigators found more than a dozen gunshot impacts at the home of then-Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley in the North Valley. O’Malley has since left her position as commissioner after serving a maximum of two terms in the seat.

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In an email release sent by O’Malley Wednesday, the former commissioner said she and her husband were awoke by the gunfire. O’Malley says at least ten gunshots struck the adobe wall surrounding her home.

“To say I am angry about this attack on my home, on my family, is the least of it,” O’Malley said. “I remember thinking how grateful I was that my grandchildren were not spending the night and that those bullets did not go through my house.”

State Senators Targeted In January

A fourth shooting is said to have occurred on January 3, 2023. At least eight shots were fired at the home of state Senator Linda Lopez in southwest Albuquerque. That shooting happened after midnight.

Lopez has been a state senator since 1997. She said she, her son, and her daughter were at home when the shooting occurred. One of the bullets passed through the room of Lopez’s 10-year-old daughter.


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“Next morning, I woke up and saw what actually [happened,]” Lopez told KRQE News 13 in an interview Thursday. “It’s very scary. As a mom, it’s something you never want to experience.”

A fifth shooting is said to have occurred at Senator Moe Maestas’ Albuquerque office on Thursday morning. Police were unable to provide more details on the latest shooting during a Thursday afternoon news conference.

“We are researching Shot Spotter,” said APD Chief Harold Medina, speaking of gunshot detection technology now deployed throughout the city. “We are looking at evidence in some of our intersections with video cameras.”

However, Albuquerque Police said it’s still unclear if the cases are connected. No one was hurt in each of the shootings.

Anyone with information about any of the shooting cases is asked to call police at 505-242-COPS or Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP.