2017 Aztec High School shooting

William Atchison entering Aztec High School

On December 7, 2017, at approximately 8:00 a.m., Atchison entered Aztec High School disguised as a student. He carried a backpack containing a 9mm Glock 19 Gen4 semi-automatic pistol.[24] Atchison opened fire in the upper level hallway of the 800-900 student occupied building. The school custodian, Thomas "Emery" Hill, chased after Atchison, shouting, "active shooter," "lock down!" Katie Potter, a 74-year-old substitute teacher, heard the gunshots and the following loudspeaker announcement calling for a lock-down. As a substitute teacher, Ms. Potter did not have keys to the classroom, so she ushered her 17 students into the classroom office, and barricaded the door with a couch. Atchison fired multiple rounds through the office wall, and then fatally shot himself. San Juan County Sheriff Ken Christensen credited Potter's swift action with saving many lives.[25]

Two students were confirmed dead, along with the shooter. State authorities confirmed that there were no other injuries reported.[26][21][27] Officials said that Aztec police received a call about the shooting around 8:00 a.m.[28]

Students were in class at the time, and heard what they thought was someone punching the lockers. As the noise became louder, they realized it was gunfire. Teachers and students hid in locked classrooms, until they were told by officials to walk out of the room toward the back of the building and the parking lot; they were later picked up by their parents at McGee Park.[27]

Casey Jordan Marquez, aged 17, a senior, and Francisco "Paco" Fernandez, also aged 17, a junior, were identified as the victims.[29] Both were student-athletes at Aztec High School. Marquez was a cheerleader, and Fernandez, a recent transfer to the school, was an American football player.[30]

Three agencies assisted with the investigation of the shooting, including the San Juan County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, and the New Mexico State Police. On December 15, a week after the shootings, The Daily Beast published an investigative article about the online posting history of the shooter.[31] Several months later, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) followed up on The Daily Beast investigation, publishing its own report asserting that the white supremacist views of the shooter were to blame for the attack. In the report, the SPLC argued that Atchison was linked to the alt-right, in particular a pattern showing at least 13 other males with alt-right views carrying out similar attacks since 2014.[32] The San Juan County Sheriff's Office disputed the claim, accusing SPLC of politicizing the shooting, as they did not have a link between a possible motive and white supremacism in the case.[6] The sheriff's office came to this conclusion based on the lack of evidence showing that Atchison's views led to him targeting the victims.[33] The only facts that could be ascertained, the sheriff's office said, is "that the shooter had serious issues and was hell bent on mass casualties for his own personal notoriety."[22]

The sheriff's office completed their investigation in August 2018, concluding that Atchison had no accomplices and no known motive for the attack. They believe that Atchison chose the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred just before 8:00 a.m., on December 7, 1941, for the attack on the school.[2] The Aztec Police Department gave a public presentation, overview, and detailed timeline of the shooting incident at Aztec City Hall on October 17, 2018.[34]

The family of Casey Jordan Marquez filed two wrongful death lawsuits in response to the incident. The first lawsuit was filed against the Aztec school district and police department on December 6, 2019. The suit claimed administrators failed to heed the advice of a 2013 school security assessment which recommended securing the school perimeter with new infrastructure improvements such as fencing and a funneled entrance. The lawsuit claimed the security assessment was dismissed by the superintendent and a board member as a risk that was "simply too remote" to support funding security enhancements.[35][36][37]

The Marquez family filed a second wrongful death lawsuit on June 8, 2020.[11] This time, the family sued the FBI, claiming that the agency was negligent in the death of her daughter and that the shooter could have been stopped if the FBI had performed a threat assessment that took into account all of the available information then known on the shooter. For example, according to the suit, the FBI dismissed the threat without examining the student's case file held by the school, which would have shown a history of previous threats, school suspension, and psychological problems. The agency also failed, the suit claims, to investigate the link between the shooter and David Sonboly in 2016, who would go on to kill nine people several months after the FBI conducted their initial investigation of Atchison and determined he wasn't a threat.[10] The suit against the FBI was dismissed with prejudice on December 14, 2020.[38]

The incident led to New Mexico legislators funding additional school safety infrastructure for fencing and entrances.[35] At Aztec High School, more school resource officers were put in place, the perimeter of the school was secured, and external doors were hardened with new remote locking radio alert technology. Additionally, there was a push by the New Mexico Police Chiefs Association to support red flag laws, which would make a school shooting a fourth degree felony.[39]

After Marquez was murdered in the shooting, her mother started a non-profit program to award college scholarships in her honor to students in New Mexico and Colorado.[40]

• Gun violence in the United States
• List of rampage killers in the United States
• List of school shootings in the United States
• List of school-related attacks

• Currier, Keenon (2021). Personal Anguish or Public Spectacle?: Understanding Involuntary Celibacy as A Deviant Identity (MSc). Auburn University.
• Hoffman, Bruce; Ware, Jacob; Shapiro, Ezra (2020). "Assessing the Threat of Incel Violence". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 43 (7). doi:10.1080/1057610X.2020.1751459. hdl:10023/24162.
• Marlin, Bill (February 23, 2018). "Contrary to sheriff's view, New Mexico shooter had ink-marks of racist alt-right". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
• New Mexico State Police Criminal Bureau (2018). Aztec High School Incident Report (PDF) (Report). State of New Mexico. 2017-28418. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
• Sugiura, Lisa (2021). "Weirdos or Extremists?". The Incel Rebellion: The Rise of the Manosphere and the Virtual War Against Women. Emerald Studies In Digital Crime, Technology and Social Harms (1st ed.). Emerald Publishing Limited. pp. 69–95. doi:10.1108/9781839822544. ISBN 978-1-83982-257-5.
• Young, Olivia (2019). "What Role Has Social Media Played in Violence Perpetrated by Incels?". Chapman University. Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Peace Studies. Student Papers and Posters. Retrieved September 5, 2022.