Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Police and emergency vehicles block the northbound lanes of Tucumcari's First Street in front of the Pizza Hut after the report of a shooting Friday night.
State police investigators on Saturday morning process the scene of a double shooting that included one fatality at the Pizza Hut in Tucumcari.
Police cars and ambulances swarmed to the Pizza Hut in Tucumcari after a shooting there Friday night that left two Tucumcari men dead in an apparent murder-suicide.
New Mexico State Police on Sunday identified the dead as Jimmy Chavez, 37, a manager of the restaurant at 2402 S. First St., and the assailant as Flip Anaya, 23.
State police stated in a news release Sunday the shootings began about 9:13 p.m. Friday.
“When officers arrived, they located two male subjects outside within close proximity to the restaurant (one deceased and the other critically wounded),” New Mexico State Police public information officer Dusty Francisco stated.
Francisco stated Anaya confronted Chavez inside the restaurant, and an argument ensued.
“As both individuals exited the restaurant, Anaya brandished a firearm and fired it towards Mr. Chavez, striking him,” Francisco stated. “Mr. Chavez was later pronounced deceased on scene by the Office of Medical Investigator. As officers arrived at the establishment, Anaya shot himself in the head and was transported to the local hospital. He was airlifted to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo, TX for treatment.”
Francisco said Anaya died at the Amarillo hospital at 6:19 p.m. Saturday.
Tucumcari Police Chief David Lathrom said late Friday local and state police secured the scene one minute, 23 seconds after the report of the shooting. He said he helped officers clear the building and check to see whether anyone else had been injured in the attack.
Lathrom said state police took over the shooting investigation because that agency has more resources than Tucumcari.
The chief said the nearby Elks Club and Trigg Memorial Hospital were placed on lockdown during the initial minutes after the shooting report.
The Tucumcari Police Department stated in a Facebook post early Saturday: "Please pray for our community as we all work to heal from this tragedy."
Chavez’s death leaves behind a wife and seven children, including three who are underage.
Christopher Chavez, a 19-year-old son of the victim, said state police told him his father and a woman with whom he had a relationship had mutually parted ways some time ago. She entered into a relationship with Anaya and had a child with him.
She eventually broke up with Anaya, for which he blamed Chavez.
“He thought (Chavez) had caused the breakup,” the younger Chavez said during a telephone interview Saturday, “that he ruined his life, his family.”
A few months ago, Anaya texted Jimmy Chavez and asked to meet so they could talk. When Chavez replied, the number was blocked.
Jimmy Chavez didn’t have any more contact with Anaya until the fatal attack Friday, the son said.
Chavez described his father as “a great guy.”
“He would have given you the shirt off his back, literally,” he said. “I saw him give his shirt to a homeless guy.”
One of victim’s daughters, Ashley Lopez of Kingman, Arizona, agreed with her brother’s assessment of her father.
“He was a big teddy bear,” she said during a phone interview Saturday. “He was willing to help anyone. He loved to be there for others, even if it was hard for him.”
Lopez said her father and the rest of the family had planned to be in Kingman for her baby shower Dec. 21. She said she is 27 weeks pregnant.
Lopez set up a GoFundme.com page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/ashlopez so people could make donations help cover travel costs for her and a brother in California so they can be in Tucumcari for the funeral and other expenses. It raised more than triple its goal of $400 barely 12 hours after the page launched. By Sunday afternoon, it had raised more than $1,700.
“I can’t express how thankful I am that people are so willing to help us,” she said. “It’s crazy. I can’t even express how much it means to us and my family.”
Chavez said a Pizza Hut representative met with him Saturday to inform him the company would pay for his father’s funeral expenses.
“It’s really appreciated,” he said of the chain restaurant’s gesture.
Arrangement are pending, but Christopher Chavez said his father will have a funeral Mass at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, where he was baptized, and will be interred at Tucumcari Memorial Park cemetery next to his father.
At least 10 police or emergency vehicles, including two ambulances, blocked northbound First Street at the scene shortly after the shooting report.
Several people across the road watched police and firefighters from a parking lot at the Allsup's Convenience Store, including two women who were crying.
Police stretched crime-scene tape across the perimeter of the restaurant and the adjoining northbound lanes of First Street late Friday. First Street traffic had reopened by daylight Saturday. State police still were processing the site Saturday morning as a mobile crime-scene truck was parked nearby.
The Pizza Hut remained closed over the weekend. A neighboring Taco Bell, which had closed in the wake of the shooting and investigation, reopened later Saturday.
