Font ResizeLAS CRUCES - Two unsolved drive-by shootings last week on the East Mesa remain under investigation by the Las Cruces Police Department.
Both are reportedly gang-
motivated, according to police reports released Wednesday.
Officers responded to the McDonald's at 4810 Mesa Grande at 8 p.m. Jan. 13, where a man who identified himself as a gang member said a rival gang member had just tagged that gang's name on the restaurant's property.
When the witness confronted the man - whose name he gave to police - he reported the man sprayed him with paint. Another man, whose name the witness also knew, allegedly stepped out of a green pickup truck with a handgun, yelled his gang name and an obscenity, pointed the gun at the witness, then fired a shot into the ground.
Surveillance video showed the green Chevy S-10 truck, with chrome rims, leaving northbound from the property.
Just seven minutes later, police again responded to another report of at least four shots fired at a couple's home on the 5700 block of Midway - less than a mile away from the first shooting. Two witnesses said they had heard one shot and when they turned on the light, saw a dark-colored, possibly European car with a loud exhaust, from which three more shots were fired.
Officers reported finding bullet fragments that appeared to have struck a truck, the house and a shed on the property. Officers determined this shooting had also been meant as gang retaliation, but had been intended for a home several
Anybody with any information on either shooting is asked to call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477). You can also send a tip via text message to LCTIPS (528477). The Crime Stoppers numbers are operational 24 hours a day and you do not have to give your name to collect a reward.
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
