The New Mexico teenager who used an assault rifle to kill five of his family members told police that he planned on going to a Walmart and randomly shoot people.
According to ABC News , after 15-year-old Nehemiah Griego killed his mother, he sent a picture of his dead mother to his 12-year-old girlfriend and then spent most of Saturday with her and her family.
Later that evening, Griego went to the church where his father used to pastor and confessed that he had killed his parents and three younger siblings.
The massacre was a result of a family dispute.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston said:
“The motive, as articulated by the suspect, was purely that he was frustrated with his mother. He did not give any further explanation.”
Houston says that Griego had been planning the shootings for at least a week, but it is still unclear on whether or not he actually intended on going to Walmart or not.
According to CNN , the killings began around 1 a.m. when Griego shot and killed his mother, Sarah Griego, while she slept. The gun fire woke up his 9-year-old brother Zephania who was asleep next to her.
When Griego told Zephania that he had killed their mother, that affidavit stated:
“Nehemiah stated his brother did not believe him. So Nehemiah picked up his mother’s head to show his brother her bloody face. Nehemiah stated his brother became upset, so he shot his brother in the head with the same rifle used to kill his mother.”
After killing his brother, the affidavit says that Griego “lost his sense of conscience” and went on to kill his sisters, 5-year-old Jael and 2-year-old Angelina.
Griego even told detectives that he also thought about killing his girlfriend’s parents as well.