Albuquerque police arrested a former Republican state Home candidate in reference to current shootings on the houses of Democratic lawmakers.
At a information convention on Monday night time, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina introduced that Solomon Pena, 39, was in police custody following a SWAT standoff in Southwest Albuquerque Monday afternoon.
"It's believed that he's the mastermind behind this and that was organizing this," Medina instructed reporters in entrance of a projected image of Pena sporting a pink hoodie that reads "Make America Nice Once more" in entrance of two Trump flags.
"We're very grateful that we had been in a position to get this particular person into custody and to hopefully deliver somewhat aid to those who had been affected and all of our lawmakers, particularly with state legislature beginning tomorrow," Medina stated.
Pena is accused of conspiring with and paying 4 different males to shoot on the houses of two county commissioners and a pair of state legislators, police stated.
Investigators stated that 5 individuals had been concerned within the conspiracy and that Pena was instantly concerned within the closing capturing. Proof towards Pena contains firearms, cellphone and digital information, surveillance footage and a number of witnesses, investigators stated.
The investigation into the shootings remains to be ongoing.
Pena's arrest comes after an unidentified suspect believed to be linked to at the least one of many shootings was in taken into custody final week.
The shootings started in early December when eight rounds had been fired on the house of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, police stated. Days later, state Rep. Javier Martinez's house was focused, and every week after the preliminary capturing, somebody shot at former Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O'Malley's house, police stated.
A number of photographs additionally had been fired on the house of state Sen. Linda Lopez — a lead sponsor of a 2021 invoice that reversed New Mexico's ban on most abortion procedures — and in a downtown space the place state Sen. Moe Maestas' workplace is situated. Maestas, an lawyer, co-sponsored a invoice final 12 months to set new felony penalties for threatening state and native judges. It did not go.