Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 120, No. 82 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
April 5, 2011
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Fire takes 10,000-plus acres
GOP DEMANDS $33B IN CUTS WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans maneuvered on two fronts Monday in the federal spending showdown, de-manding Democrats agree to more than $33 billion in swift cuts and avoid a government shutdown at the same .... - PAGE B3
TOP 5 WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• 4 dead in plane crash at RIAC • Thousands gather at WSMR Trinity Site • Beep! Beep! Kids are cute in cars • Candelight vigil for Romero is April 15 • Institute falls to Clarendon
INSIDE SPORTS
Matthew Arco Photo
Firefighters work to contain an area of the Ruidoso White Fire, Monday. MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
A fire ripped through thousands of acres of land in and around Ruidoso Sunday and well into Monday, prompting evacuations orders for about 200 homes in the area that was left devastated by the wind-driven blaze. The cause of the more than 10,000-acre fire was still unknown late Monday as residents were returning home and emergency personnel continued to battle the active White
Fire, said Jennifer Myslivy, fire information officer of the State Forestry Division. At least five homes and seven outbuildings were destroyed, she said. More than 250 emergency personnel were on scene. By about 7 p.m. Monday only 20 percent of the wildfire, which started near Gavilan Canyon early Sunday after noon and burned east through Ruidoso Downs and across Highway 70, was conSee FIRE, Page A3
Matthew Arco Photo
Barbara Green stands by her pickup truck and the place where her home once stood, Monday, before a fire in Ruidoso Downs charred about 10,000 acres.
RIAC crash investigation could take months Gulfstream IDs crash victims
UCONN WINS NATIONAL TITLE HOUSTON (AP) — The only thing that could stop Kemba Walker and Connecticut’s amazing run was the final buzzer. On a night when the massive arena felt like a dusty old gym, UConn made Butler look like the underdog it really was, winning the national championship Monday night with an old-fashioned, grinding 53-41 beatdown of the Bulldogs. - PAGE B1 • Franklin D. Schlatter
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Gerry Crenshaw • Jack “Mark” Shaw • Sue Wyche • Virginia Tidmore • Dorothy Deifenbaugh - PAGE B3
HIGH ...90˚ LOW ....52˚
The remains of the Gulfstream 650 luxury jet that crashed Saturday lie in a field at Roswell International Air Center. JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation of the crash of a twin-engine luxury Gulfstream G650 that killed four Gulfstream employees, Saturday, at Roswell International Airport. Tom Latson, NTSB
regional air investigator, addressed the media around 3 p.m., Sunday, at RIAC. Latson came to Roswell from NTSB’s regional of fice in Texas, Saturday. On Sunday, he provided facts and details on the wreckage site. Latson was careful to not offer any guesses on how the crash happened, as he con-
tinues to explore every bit of evidence related to the crash. This includes physical and technological evidence. “I’m here to investigate the crash of (case) N652GD,” Latson said. “The airplane was doing a certification flight test on runway 21 at the Roswell airport. About 5,000 feet at
NTSB Photo
the end of the runway, I found scrape marks on the right side of the runway. For another 3,000, feet the aircraft traveled to the right of runway 21. (It) impacted a small ditch and then came to rest slightly over 200 feet from the aircraft control tower at the Roswell See CRASH, Page A3
Gulfstream employees killed in Saturday’s crash at Roswell International Air Center were identified by the company, Sunday. They were pilots Kent Crenshaw and Vivan Ragusa and technical specialists David McCollum and Reece Ollenburg, of Savannah, Ga. “We mourn the loss of our colleagues and friends and extend our deepest sympathies to their families,” Joe Lombardo, Gulfstream president, said in a press release. “The Gulfstream team has already rallied to support the people these men left behind, and we know that the local See VICTIMS, Page A3
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B3 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
7 wounded in shoot-out, Sunday; 3 airlifted out JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Seven people were wounded at a shoot-out at a residence in the 1800 block of South Monroe Avenue, Sunday morning. Three of the wounded were taken by helicopter to regional hospitals and are presumed to be in critical condition, according to Roswell Police Department spokesman Officer Travis Holley. The incident began at a party after an altercation. “The best we can determine that it was an altercation
about a boyfriend, a girlfriend and an ex-boyfriend, said Holley. “The subject left and brought back several other subjects,” said Holley. The subjects were armed and started a gun battle. The people inside the residence returned fire. “There were multiple firearms in use and several different types of casings found on the scene,” said Holley. Police responded to a call from the area around Garden Access and Monroe Avenue around 4 a.m., after the residents were awakened by the sound of
gunfire. After the shooting stopped, the residents looked outside and saw several male subjects with long rifles. “We had a vehicle description. An of ficer pulled the vehicle over (at Richardson and T ilden). One person got out of the car and ran. We found two victims inside,” Holley said. Holley was unwilling to say how many of the victims were male and how many were female. He said he was unaware of any gang involvement. Two houses were struck in the crossfire.
The neighbors were awakened from a sound sleep. One of the shots fired penetrated the wall and the bullet lodged in a closet of a nearby home. “The fortunate thing was that no innocent bystanders were shot,” said Holley. “From our perspective, it’s a delicate situation because our victims are also subjects,” he said. Infor mation about the incident came in piecemeal as victims straggled into the emergency rooms of the two local hospitals. He could not say how many officers were called to
the scene. “Not every report has been filed yet, but I can well imagine we sent every single one we could get our hands on.” The RPD had no one in custody as of Monday. “It’s hard to sort through at this point. We’re trying to piece it together as best we can. Neither side is cooperating with us. This is all too common in a case like this,” said Holley. The investigation is continuing. Holley said, “We respond all the time to shots fired reports .... This is not the sort of thing we will just let go.”
j.palmer@roswell-record.com