Shooter killing 3 in U.S. New Mexico identified as high school student

HOUSTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The shooter who killed three people and wounded multiple others on Monday in Farmington, southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico, has been identified as an 18-year-old high school student, Farmington police said on Tuesday.

Beau Wilson, a student of Farmington High School, used an AR-15-style rifle and two other firearms to fire "indiscriminately" at three vehicles and at least six houses in a quiet neighborhood of the city on Monday morning, Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said at a news conference.

Upon arriving on scene, police officers shot and killed the gunman, he said.

The suspect was not previously on local police's radar, said Dowdy.

"He did have minor infractions as a juvenile but nothing that would rise to the level of any serious crime," Dowdy said.

The rampage seemed to be random and his motive remained unclear, according to the police.

One weapon the gunman used was legally purchased one month after he turned 18 years old last year and the two others may have belonged to family members, police said.

Among the deceased victims, two were in their 70s and the other was in her 90s, police said.

Seven patients in total, including two police officers, were treated at the hospital following the shooting, Fire Chief Robert Sterrett said at the news conference. Police once said nine people were injured.

Farmington, a city of about 46,400 residents in northwestern New Mexico, serves as a modern-day trading post to the adjacent Navajo Nation and a supply line and bedroom community to the region's oil and natural gas industry, according to local media reports.