The family of an 18-year-old high-school student who took three of more than a dozen guns to which he had access and killed three elderly women without provocation in New Mexico on Monday has claimed he was struggling with his mental health before the attack.
The shooter, who was armed with at least three guns and wore body armor before police killed him, “was fighting a battle of mental illness that he lost”, his family asserted on Friday in a statement, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
In the statement, the shooter’s brother said his family was undergoing its own grief process but added: “We would like to start by sending our condolences to all of the victims and their loved ones … We know that the community and families involved are dealing with a lot of pain.”
The decision by the family of Beau Smith to invoke his purported mental illness five days after his deadly spree comes as officials and advocates have renewed discussions about gun control policies at state and federal levels. Officials have said the shooter had access to 10 more guns in his home in addition to the three he had on him when he carried out Monday’s mass shooting, which also left six other people wounded.
The family’s statement is almost certain to reignite debate about how lawmakers can do more to prevent teenagers as well as people who are possibly a danger to themselves or others from acquiring high-powered rifles, including one that the shooter had when he carried out Monday’s deadly attack in Farmington, New Mexico, hours before he was supposed to graduate from high school.
Authorities have maintained that they are still working to establish a motive in the mass shooting in Farmington.
In their statement, Smith’s family members described themselves as being in shock and in search of answers, among other things.
The US is on track for 2023 to be its worst year for mass killings in recent history. Despite this, US states and the federal government have overwhelmingly failed to enact policies that could reduce the number of mass shootings in the country.
The Biden administration has repeatedly but unsuccessfully called for Congress to ban public access to assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, implement universal background checks, and eliminate gunmakers’ immunity from civil litigation for killings carried out with their products.
Federal background checks and other gun control reforms are supported by most Americans, according to polling. But they are unlikely to pass given the narrowly split House and Senate. Republicans, whose response to mass shootings often involves trying to focus reaction exclusively on thinking of and praying for the slain, generally oppose gun control measures.
People with mental illness are not the primary drivers of the US’s epidemic of violence. Advocates have previously cited research which shows approximately 96% of US gun violence is driven by causes other than mental illness.
Police killed the shooter in Farmington after he had murdered Shirley Voita, 79; Gwendolyn Dean Schofield, 97; and her daughter Melody Ivie, 73. They were driving when the shooter walked out of his father’s home and started firing an AR-15-style rifle “indiscriminately”, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Two police officers were among the six others wounded in Monday’s deadly attack.
Farmington’s police chief, Steve Hebbe, said that the shooter last November legally bought his rifle, which at least resembled one used in many of the US’s deadly mass shootings. He made the purchase about a month after he turned 18.
The shooter also used two guns that were owned separately by a family member, police believe. Additionally, he had access in his home to 10 more guns, but there was no sign that he intended to use them.
Authorities said they found a note on the shooter’s body which read, in part: “If you’re reading this I’m the end of the chapter.”
