Stopping the shooter
If teenager Beau Wilson – now forever labeled the Farmington mass murderer – had been behaving erratically, and a relative or friend had noticed and had sought help from law enforcement, what might law enforcement have done?
If a friend or family member had been concerned about the houseful of firearms he had access to, or the assault weapon he purchased several months ago, or the three magazines for that weapon he purchased a few days before his murderous rampage, and had asked for help, what might law enforcement have done?
We don’t know. But a declaration had been made, three years ago.
Farmington declared itself by city council resolution in 2020 to be a Second Amendment sanctuary. So did San Juan County.
The county sheriff, Shane Ferrari, declared publicly multiple times he would not enforce a red flag law. In 2019, when the law was under consideration, he said so in a letter to the governor on behalf of the New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association. Today, prominent on the association’s website is a letter supporting that position.
On the other hand, as of last year Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe had reportedly filed two red flag petitions that were granted.
New Mexico’s red flag law, officially the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, was enacted in 2020. It says that if you are worried about possible gun violence from a person who possesses firearms, and you fit the definition (such as a relative), you can ask law enforcement to file a petition with a judge to take away the person’s guns. You must persuade the officer that this person is dangerous to himself or others. Then the officer has to convince the judge. The person has the right to a hearing.
The Farmington Daily Times reported in 2020 that “San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari has stated his office will not enforce the law despite the governor warning sheriffs that the law must be enforced or they should resign.”
The Albuquerque Journal reported last year in a copyrighted story that the red flag law in New Mexico had only been used nine times statewide since 2020.
I wrote last year: “If a judge grants the order, the law requires the sheriff to take away that person’s guns. That’s what 26 sheriffs said they would not do. If you know your sheriff won’t take the guns away, why would you go through the painful process of asking? Just because he threatened to murder his ex-girlfriend or shoot up his former classroom? The judge who would hear this case would probably be your own district judge, elected by you and your neighbors just as the sheriff was elected by you and your neighbors.”
Wilson was 18 and in the high school graduating class. There are reports about serious family issues, but we probably will never know exactly what motivated him to take this terrible action on the eve of what might have been his high school graduation. We just know he bought three AR-15 magazines.
At the news conference on May 16, the mayor, the FBI spokesperson and several officers praised and thanked all the responders for their swift and decisive action. No doubt the heroics were genuine and the praise and thanks were deserved, for the wounded officers and all the rest, who ended the incident within 10 minutes of the first 911 call.
Wilson was stopped after only three people were killed. No, four, including himself. Countless lives were saved, the mayor said. Maybe the death toll could have been zero.
Police Chief Hebbe told the public about the three magazines in a follow-up news conference on May 17.
But apparently nobody was alarmed enough about a kid buying assault weapon magazines to ask for help.
Contact Merilee Dannemann through www.triplespacedagain.com.
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This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Stopping the shooter
