Suspect allegedly involved in Las Cruces shooting identified through court documents
Mar 24, 2025
Video above: Family, friends remember teens killed in park shooting
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Another suspect allegedly involved in the Young Park shooting in Las Cruces has been identified through court documents that were obtained by KTSM.
Las Cruces Police have arrested four suspects, inclu
ding three juveniles, in connection to the shooting and court documents identify one of the suspects as Nathan Rivas.
4 suspects arrested in park shooting in Las Cruces
Las Cruces Police have only identified Tomas Rivas, 20, and Nathan Rivas has not been publicly named as one of the three juvenile suspects arrested by police. Las Cruces Police have not released the juveniles' names.
All suspects are facing three open counts of murder, according to Las Cruces Police.
Las Cruces Police have only identified the juvenile suspects as two 17-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy.
Court documents also provide additional details on Tomas Rivas and Nathan Rivas, including their whereabouts after the shooting.
Court documents state that officers responded this past Friday, March 21 at Young Park located at 1905 Nevada Ave., in Las Cruces for multiple shots fired and several people who were injured.
Officers arrived at the scene and discovered that multiple people had been shot and three other people had died as a result of the shooting.
The victims who died in Friday’s shooting have been identified as Andrew Madrid, 16; Jason Gomez, 17; and Dominick Estrada, 19. Madrid and Gomez died at the scene.
Fifteen people were injured in the shooting.
Several witnesses told police that there were two groups of people that had a verbal and physical altercation that Friday at Young Park.
Several individuals from both groups then pulled out firearms and started to shoot at each other, according to court documents.
Three to four male individuals then took off running to a nearby school after the shooting, according to court documents.
Several witnesses told police that they recognized two of the individuals to be the "Rivas brothers."
One of the witnesses told police that he had previous encounters with the Rivas brothers and that they travel in a Mercedes, according to court documents.
After the shooting, officers were conducting surveillance at the 1800 block of Rentfrow Avenue and saw the Rivas brothers drive up to an apartment in a Mercedes, according to court documents.
Officers then saw Nathan Rivas walk up to a trash bin that was located on the side of the apartment and place a bag inside it, according to court documents.
Nathan Rivas returned to the Mercedes and then a traffic stop was conducted by police.
A resident who was living at an apartment located at the 1800 block of Rentfrow Avenue told police that Tomas Rivas knocked on the door at around 11 p.m. on Friday night.
The resident told police that when he answered the door, he saw Tomas Rivas and said that he looked panicked, according to court documents.
The resident told police that Tomas Rivas was wearing a red, gray, and black jacket along with a fanny pack, but that when the resident took Tomas Rivas home hours later, he was only wearing a black shirt, according to court documents.
A search warrant was executed at the apartment and investigators located four firearms that are believed to have been used in the shooting, according to court documents.
Investigators also located a red, black, and gray colored sweater wrapped in a pillowcase in the kitchen trash of the apartment, according to court documents.
The resident told police that the firearms that were found in the kitchen and outside trash bin were not his.
The resident also told police that he left Tomas Rivas unattended in the kitchen and living room while the resident attended to his dogs, according to court documents.
The shell casings that were discovered at Young Park matched the firearms that were discovered at the apartment, according to court documents. ...read more read less