Student, 14, Charged With Murder After West Mesa HS Shooting

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — A 14-year-old boy is accused of killing a fellow student in a shooting that forced students at West Mesa High School in Albuquerque to shelter in place Friday morning.

Police arrested Marcos Trejo on Friday evening at a home on Albuquerque's West Side. He was charged with one count of murder and evidence tampering and booked into the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a news release.

Trejo is accused of shooting and killing 16-year-old Andrew Burson, police said. The shooting happened near a football field across the street from the school, officials said at a news conference Friday.

According to police, Trejo and Burson knew one another, and Burson had accused Trejo of stealing his gun. Burson confronted Trejo shortly after 8 a.m. Monday morning and demanded that Trejo "give him his s--- back." Trejo was able to run away but Burson followed him, police said. Ultimately, Trejo took out a gun and fired 5-6 rounds at Burson, striking him several times, police said.

Burson died at the scene, according to police.

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The school district on Friday said the shooting happened near school grounds, but it was "far too close."

"My thoughts, our thoughts and prayers go out to that student's family and to all the families at West Mesa who I know are wildly upset and probably very fearful," Scott Elder, the district superintendent, said at a news conference.

He added: "I want to make it very clear this wasn't an active shooting, active shooter situation. The gun did not come on to campus. The student left campus."

Elder called the shooting "deeply disturbing," and said it underscores the importance for the public to help keep guns out of the hands of kids.

"This is a tragedy," he said.