Officials: 15-year-old shoots, kills 5 inside N.M. home

There are just some people who shouldn't own guns, and some that should. bad stuff happens all over. some accidents and some not.  its just funny how people say its always the gun owners fault when they are not asking to be killed along with the rest of their family. some people just have issues.

I've read hundreds of posts in the last week that refer to "gun nut". Can someone please explain their definition of the term? If it refers to all gun owners, OK. I'd just like to know if there are any gun owners you don't view as a "gun nut" and why.

A couple of interesting tidbits:

 

1)  Greg Griego, a gang member turned pastor

2)  Griego reportedly served in Desert Storm (speaks to weapons knowledge)

3)  Nehemiah ... always wore army clothing and camouflage, but he wasn’t allowed to play violent video games, according to one neighbor, since the boy’s parents didn’t allow anything “dirty or violent” and limited TV watching.

 

Most importantly:

 

9:16 p.m. – Police have released the names and ages of the victims in the South Valley shooting.

 

They are:

 

Greg Griego, 51

Sarah Griego, 40

Zephania Griego, 9

Jael Griego, 5

Angelina Griego, 2

 

May you find peace, little ones.

 

8:23 p.m. — It was a “horrific” crime scene that confronted deputies Saturday night: Former Calvary church Pastor Greg Griego; his wife, Sarah; and their three youngest children dead — fatally shot multiple times with a “military-style” assault rifle and other weapons — at their South Valley home.

 

The suspect in custody is the couple’s 15-year-old son, Nehemiah Griego, who neighbors said often wore “nothing but camouflage” and wanted to be in the army.

 

“I’ve never seen a scene quite like this,” Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston said at a news conference Sunday morning.

 

The teen is accused of using several weapons, including a “military style” assault rifle, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, to kill his parents and three youngest siblings.

 

The sprawling home is in the 2800 block of Long Lane, a dirt road in the South Valley just off Old Coors Road. The couple had a total of 10 children, but it appeared only the three youngest and the 15-year-old were at home at the time of the shootings.

 

The sheriff’s office is releasing few details, including when or where Nehemiah Griego was arrested. It did not release the names or ages of the victims, nor would it release a criminal complaint detailing the incident.

Neighbors and others identified the couple as Greg Griego, a gang member turned pastor, who served at Calvary Chapel, as well as at the Metropolitan Detention Center, and Sarah Griego, a stay-at-home mom who home schooled the children.

 

Nehemiah Griego was not well-known among those living within a block or so of the family’s home.

However, neighbor Peter Gomez said he saw the boy walk with siblings and his parents through the neighborhood regularly, and he “wore nothing but camouflage stuff.”

 

Greg Griego had converted his backyard barn into a halfway house for released prisoners, according to neighbors. He also held services at the county jail’s “God Pod,” where he gave inmates spiritual advice.

Griego is a former gang member, according to an article posted on the Prison Fellowship website. The organization advocates religious services for inmates.

 

Griego reportedly served in Desert Storm, and Nehemiah told neighbors he wanted to be a soldier. He always wore army clothing and camouflage, but he wasn’t allowed to play violent video games, according to one neighbor, since the boy’s parents didn’t allow anything “dirty or violent” and limited TV watching.

 

He is charged with two counts of murder ad three counts of child abuse resulting in death, and is being held at the Bernalillo County Jevenile Detention Center.

 

Griego lost one of his three jobs a few months ago and has struggled to find work, said the neighbor, who attends weekly Bible study at the home.

 

The lack of funds left the family living “paycheck to paycheck”, she said, and “it’s been really rough on them.”

 

Griego spent 13 years as a volunteer pastor at the Metropolitan Detention Center, jail spokeswoman Nataura Powdrell said. He was instrumental in starting the jail’s “God Pod,” a unit of the massive lockup where inmates interested in the Bible and its teachings could be assigned.

 

Also, Griego served as a volunteer chaplain at the Albuquerque Fire Department. The department issued a statement lamenting the loss.

 

“Chaplain Griego was a dedicated professional that passionately served his fellow man and the firefighters of this community,” the statement reads. “His calming spirit and gentle nature will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Greg’s extended family.”

 

John Welch was a friend and coworker of Griego’s at Calvary church. The two have been friends for 20 years, he said, and Griego has helped troubled kids get their lives back on track.

 

“I can’t believe that he’s gone,” he said Sunday outside the church.

 

He said Griego “would help a lot of folks, a lot of especially young kids,” and let them stay overnight, sometimes.

“He was one of the most courageous, one of the most kind and dear chaplain friends … that understood when I would tell him about having run into people that did cocaine or were involved in homicides, and I’m just praying for the teenager that’s in custody now,” Welch said.

 

The “God Pod” at MDC has since been scrapped because jail officials determined it constituted a violation of other inmates’ religious rights, Powdrell said, but Greg Griego continued to work at the MDC as a volunteer minister. He handed out free bibles and worked as a spiritual counselor with inmates who wanted it.

 

She said he also helped set up the jail’s “Straight Streets” program, a Christian-based initiative to help inmates reintegrate into society. And Greg Griego was key in getting the jail to hire a full-time pastor; previously, it had been a volunteer position.

 

“I know he will be greatly missed by a great many inmates,” Powdrell said.

I can't help but wonder if the owner of the automatic weapon felt they should be banned.. Oh, he's dead.. Karma is such a horrible thing..

For the 20th time I repeat, you or one of your family are far more likely to kill yourself or family with your own gun than you are to use that gun to kill an intruder. But still the gun nuts insist it's necessary for them to have a gun to protect themselves - against all data to the contrary. Insanity...

Gun advocates say what to this?

Oh wait, nobody really cares what you looney toons think.

Guns are so cool! Wish we had more!

Good grief, people!  Give it a rest.  Gotta love the rampant speculation.

 

First, let me start off by saying I'm not scooping anything here but I even know the family's name and address.  Looking on arial photos and having been in that part of the country years ago, it is still pretty rural (housing developments are encroaching on rangeland).  So it wouldn't be uncommon for families living in the area -- especially if they moved there before the subdivisions started springing up -- to have weapons to protect themselves and their livestock against wild animals.  Semi-automatic may be a bit much but, if your life is on the line and you understand and respect guns and they are still legally allowed, I guess I can't say too much about it aside from don't be an idiot and keep it secured.

 

Second, one of the reported people killed is the 15 year old's father.  I'm pretty confident the father knew and respected weapons.  How's that?  He's been a volunteer pastor at the Metropolitan Detention Center.  He was also the spiritual counselor for the Albuquerque Fire Department.

 

He had a history of helping troubled kids get their lives back on track.  It is *possible* the 15 year old may have been one of these troubled youths that he either fostered or adopted (that isn't in the article I just read).  Or he may have been a bio child -- especially if the kid felt Dad paid more attention to other kids than to him.

 

The family had 10 children so that also makes me suspect that some of the kids may not be bio children.  Doesn't matter.  They were his family.

 

Neighbors have identified the deceased as two adults (the father and the mother) and three children.  All were active in the local church and in their community.  Generally speaking, all are known to the residents of the area.

 

Given the father's history of interacting with both police/custody officers and fire personnel, I'm certain that, if he had weapons in the home, they were properly secured (or he at least knew that his responsibility was to keep them properly secured).  He also probably would have wanted to keep them out of the hands of the youngest children and away from any of the kids he helped who might turn to suicide as an option.  The 15 year old probably had access to the weapons or knew how to access them.  Of course the article doesn't mention if the Chaplain was known to have any weapons so that's also an assumption.

 

More of the information can be found here:

 

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/01/20/abqnewsseeker/breaking-five-dead-in-south-valley-shooting.html

 

My heart goes out to all of those who knew the family in whatever capacity they served.

Our society is decaying. Life is becoming cheap. We see it on TV, video games, on the internet, in the news, it's everywhere.