Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — A 24-year-old man was critically injured early Monday when he was shot in the chest – the fifth shooting incident in Clovis since Saturday, police said.
A Clovis police news release said Jesus Navarrete was unconscious when he was brought into Plains Regional Medical Center at 2:42 a.m.
He was soon transferred to University Medical Center in Lubbock where he was listed in critical condition.
The shooting occurred at the Clovis Apartments, the police news release stated. Spent shell casings were found at the scene and security video was recovered from the apartments.
No arrests had been made by 3 p.m. Tuesday, but Police Lt. Trevor Thron said, “We think we have a pretty good lead. … just need to find some people and talk to them.”
Monday’s shooting came on the heels of Clovis police forming a task force charged with “conducting directed patrols” and investigating a series of recent shootings in the city. The task force began last week, a day before the region’s sixth homicide this year occurred in Connelly Street.
“Over the course of the past several weeks, the Clovis Police Department has seen an uptick in shootings that have occurred at the Clovis Apartments along with other areas throughout town,” police stated in a separate news release.
“During the weekend … this task force worked four different drive-by shootings,” police said. “These shootings occurred at the Clovis Apartments located at 1000 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in the 600 block of W. 17th St., in the 400 block of W. 5th St., and in the 100 block of E. Plains. During this weekend’s shootings, over 60 casings of various calibers were collected from these scenes.”
Police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating the shooters.
“An issue that the task force has run into quite frequently while investigating these incidents, is the lack of cooperation from the public,” one release stated.
For example: “Security video was pulled from the Clovis Apartments during the time of the shooting that occurred during the early morning hours of July 16. This video showed a very large group of people standing outside of the apartments during the time of the shooting, where 21 spent casings were later found by officers.
“It wasn’t until 40 minutes after the shooting occurred when Clovis Police Dispatch received its only call from a resident of the Clovis Apartments reporting their apartment had been struck by gunfire.
“During this investigation, officers were told by residents at the Clovis Apartments that they didn’t see anything.”
Police are asking anyone with information about the shootings to contact them at 575-769-1921.
“We would also like to remind you, that information can be provided anonymously by using the Clovis Police Department’s tip411 app, which can be accessed by going to www.police.cityofclovis.org . Furthermore, anonymous tips can be provided to the Curry County Crime Stoppers at 575-763-7000,” the release stated.
