SANTA FE, NM, March 23, (AP): Three people were fatally shot, and 15 others were hurt, after an altercation broke out at a park in the desert city of Las Cruces, police said Saturday. Police and fire crews arrived at just after 10 pm Friday to a chaotic scene at Young Park, where an unauthorized car show had drawn about 200 people, police said in a news conference. Gunshot victims ranging in age from 16 to 36 were treated there or taken to hospitals.

Between 50 and 60 handgun casings were scattered across a wide swath of the park, Police Chief Jeremy Story said, suggesting multiple shooters and multiple weapons among two groups whose "ill will” toward each other are believed to have led to the shootings. Several others were injured in the crossfire, he said. The dead were identified only as a 16-year-old boy and two men, ages 18 and 19, police said.

Their names and those of the other victims were not yet being released. Local police were being assisted in their investigation by New Mexico State Police, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Las Cruces Fire Chief Michael Daniels said 11 patients were sent to three local hospitals or to University Medical Center of El Paso, the regional trauma center.

As of Saturday, he said, seven victims were in El Paso, four had been treated and released and the conditions of the other four were not known. Authorities are seeking video from the park and tips from those present as they work to identify a suspect or suspects. "This horrendous, senseless act is a stark reminder of the blatant disregard people in New Mexico have for the rule of law and order,” Story said.

He vowed that authorities will find everyone responsible and said, "We will hold them accountable to the criminal justice system.” Story acknowledged that illegal car shows at Young Park are not uncommon and that the police presence has been larger in the past. Understaffing on Friday, he added, meant that he had "no units available for most of the night.”

In an Instagram post Saturday, City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Johana Bencomo expressed grief over the shootings. "Part of me wanted to write that this is something you never really think this is going to happen in your city, but that actually feels deeply untrue,” she said. "Honestly now days a tragedy like this feels like a nightmare just waiting to come true at any possible moment, yet also always praying and hoping it never will.”