THREE LAS CRUCES MEN PLEAD GUILTY AFTER YOUNG PARK SHOOTING AND SCHOOL-ZONE FIREARM CASE

LAS CRUCES, NM — August 14, 2026 — Three Las Cruces men have pleaded guilty to federal firearm offenses uncovered during an investigation into gunfire at Young Park and the discovery of loaded weapons near Hermosa Heights Elementary School.

John Anthony Orta, 24, Steven Mendoza, 22, and Luis Angel Ruiz, 23, admitted to separate firearm offenses connected to the September 2025 investigation.

Orta has already been sentenced to six months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Sentencing hearings have not been scheduled for Mendoza or Ruiz.

The investigation began on September 6, 2025, when Las Cruces Police Department officers responded to reports of shots fired at Young Park. Officers recovered numerous spent shell casings from the parking lot. No injuries were reported.

Shortly after the gunfire, officers encountered Orta and Mendoza walking near Hermosa Heights Elementary School while carrying loaded firearms.

Orta possessed a handgun. Mendoza carried a partially disassembled pistol loaded with two rounds of ammunition. Earlier federal records identified Mendoza’s weapon as an AR-15-style pistol.

Both men were intoxicated and were initially arrested under state law for negligent use of a deadly weapon. The location of the arrests brought the firearms within the boundaries of a federal school zone.

Orta and Mendoza admitted that they knowingly possessed the weapons within 540 feet of school property. Both later pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone.

Orta entered his guilty plea on December 29, 2025, before receiving the six-month prison sentence. Mendoza faces a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Investigators obtained search warrants for the cellphones belonging to Orta and Mendoza as the inquiry into the Young Park gunfire continued. Social media messages recovered from the devices discussed the shooting and identified Ruiz as the person who fired the shots.

The messages also indicated that Ruiz owned the pistol recovered from Mendoza near Hermosa Heights Elementary School.

Investigators corroborated the digital evidence through eyewitness accounts, social media posts showing Ruiz with the firearm, and ballistic evidence connecting the weapon to the Young Park shooting.

Las Cruces police stopped Ruiz for traffic violations on September 24, 2025, approximately 18 days after the shooting. Officers arrested him for driving under the influence and recovered four firearms from his vehicle.

One of the recovered weapons was a handgun with an obliterated serial number. Ruiz admitted that the four firearms belonged to him and later acknowledged that he knew the serial number on the handgun had been removed.

Additional social media messages showed that Ruiz attempted to sell the firearm with the obliterated serial number.

Ruiz pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm in a school zone and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He faces a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

The potential sentences stated for Mendoza and Ruiz are statutory maximums. Their final sentences will be determined by the federal court.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and FBI Albuquerque Field Office Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris announced the guilty pleas and Orta’s sentence.

The Southern New Mexico Safe Streets Gang Task Force, operating through the Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, investigated the cases with assistance from the Las Cruces Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo is prosecuting the cases.

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