LAS CRUCES - In the aftermath of an attempted revenge shooting that killed an older man instead of its intended target, friends of an injured high schooler, as well as authorities, are urging peace and patience - and not further violence.

Three teens - who will be charged as adults - and a 23-year-old are in custody, charged with the first-degree murder of 57-year-old Julian Pe-a Sr. after they allegedly shot at least 10 rounds at his mobile home Monday night, fatally wounding him. The four allegedly thought they were shooting at the home of a male known as "Tuna," who they

believed had taken a bat to their friend the day before, 18-year-old Jerry Zamarripa, who remains on life support at University Medical Center in El Paso.

"My mouth dropped. I couldn't believe it. I was in shock," said Zamarripa's friend, 15-year-old Shyan Chavez, recalling her reaction when she heard about the attack on the popular varsity football student. "I was sad the whole day. I've been depressed the whole week. But we're trying to make something positive out of it."

Chavez, a San Andres High School freshman, and O-ate High School freshman Samantha Koller, 14, have gotten permission to hold a candlelight vigil in support of Zamarripa on Saturday evening outside the school, after the school's varsity basketball game.

The attack horrified her, she said, but the misguided revenge attempt was the wrong thing to do.

"I can understand that feeling, because I felt like (getting revenge) too,

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but ... I wouldn't do it, because that's just going to make me end up in the same position as the people who (attacked) him," Chavez said. "Just like everyone else, (Zamarripa) would probably want some revenge, but it's not a good decision to do that."

In separate interviews Thursday, Sheriff Todd Garrison and District Attorney Amy Orlando expressed the same sentiment: that wanting to avenge a friend's brutal beating is only human, but that vigilante justice will only serve to create more innocent victims.

"You never end up hurting the person you intend to hurt," Orlando said. "Let the criminal justice system work. Let the police work. You've got to think of the kid lying there, on life support, and his family's making the toughest decisions of their life. And now, you've affected their family, your own family and innocent victims. That's the thing that's mortifying: I don't think anybody understands how many lives (revenge) impacts."

Law enforcement officers worked around the clock to apprehend Pe-a's alleged killers and are working hard to bring Zamarripa's alleged attackers to justice as well, Garrison said, noting that people should be working with authorities - not destroying more lives with additional crimes.

"When something like this happens to a friend, with kids so tightly knit, it's natural to feel (like getting revenge), but ... if they're allowed to go out and get even, it always ends up in a bad way," he said. Authorities are always willing to take time to talk to the friends of victims, he said.

"It's better to give us a chance to get our job done, get things done as quickly as they can, and if they can, help us by passing on information and call us. Let us come and talk to them a little bit. Oftentimes, an officer can talk to a person struggling with those feelings - that are very, very natural - and sometimes bring them down."

Rage and passion can cause people to destroy their own lives and the lives of others in just a split second, Garrison said, especially when people feel helpless in the face of random violence.

"It's one thing to want to see somebody brought to justice, but another to take it into your own hands," he said, calling revenge "selfish" rather than valiant. "We still have the greatest criminal justice system in the world. And it works. Sometimes it's slow ... and I know it's difficult, but if it's given a chance to work, it oftentimes works out in the best interest of everybody."

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462