Captain Chad Wright, commander of the Hobbs Police Department’s (HPD) Criminal Investigation Division, is asking the public for assistance in bringing justice to the victim of the homicide that took place in the Hobbs Walmart parking lot, around 2:00 a.m., on Thursday, May 18. Walmart is located at 3800 North Lovington Hwy.
At an HPD press conference that took place late Thursday afternoon, May 18, Captain Wright stated, “As we released earlier today, around two o’clock this morning officers with the Hobbs Police Department responded to the Walmart here in Hobbs. Once they arrived they located Jordan Ruiz, 24-years-old, of Hobbs. He had sustained gunshot wounds and later succumbed to those injuries.”
An earlier press release states that after EMS arrived at the scene of the shooting, Ruiz was transported to Covenant Hobbs Hospital, where he later passed away.
The press release also states that HPD’s “preliminary investigation possibly reveals that this is not a random act of violence and the suspect may have known the victim.”
At the press conference Captain Wright stated that investigators worked through the night following “numerous leads” to gather more information about the incident.
Captain Wright continued, “At this time we do know that the suspect vehicle left the area east on Joe Harvey and then southbound on Camino Real. If you live in any of those areas and you have a business in those areas, please review any type of camera footage you may have. If you see anything suspicious or anything that could be helpful to the police during the time of zero two hundred hours to zero three hundred hours, please contact the police department so we can interview you and gather that video.”
Captain Wright noted that many people were in the parking lot when the incident happened and that many of those individuals have already been interviewed by the police. He then asked for anyone who was at the scene but who had left without being interviewed to “…please come forward, because investigations like this often require the help of the public, and we want to bring this investigation to a close.”
No further information was released about the shooting at the press conference, although Captain Wright assured the public that the investigation is ongoing and that the HPD will release additional information as soon as it becomes available.
The HPD dispatch number is (575) 397-9265 and Lea County Crime Stoppers number is (575) 393-8005. Anyone with information is asked to call either of these numbers to report such information. He or she “may be eligible for a cash reward”.
Alternatively, the public may message the HPD privately on its Facebook page to provide information. Anyone using this platform is advised that the HPD does not monitor its Facebook page in “real time”. Consequently, “real-time crime” should not be reported via Facebook.
A video of the HPD press conference about the deadly shooting in the Walmart parking lot is available for review on the department’s Facebook page.
UPDATE: According to the HPD, a license plate was spotted through surveillance footage in the area which identified a vehicle driven by the suspects. Authorities issued a “BOLO” (Be On the Look Out) for the vehicle. The vehicle was spotted by deputies of the Reeves County Sheriff’s Office in Texas who attempted a traffic stop. According to authorities, the vehicle fled from the Reeves County sheriff deputies and “a pursuit ensued”.
Without further incident, the deputies were able to stop the vehicle and made three arrests: one 18-year old male and two juveniles. According to the HPD, “There are no outstanding suspects at this time.”
