KILLERS OF 2-YEAR-OLD MIGHT HAVE HAD WRONG HOUSE, POLICE SAY

The barrage of bullets that killed a 2-year-old girl and wounded her mother
and sister were never intended for them, Albuquerque police say.

And that, they said, makes an already senseless crime all the worse.

Police say Monday night's shooting in the 400 block of 11th Street
Southwest is drug- and gang-related, but the family of five who resided in
the duplex have no connection to either.

"These were absolutely victims," Albuquerque Police Chief Gerald Galvin
said at a news conference today. "This is not a drug house."

Gunfire, possibly from a 9 mm weapon, broke through the large window of the
family's living room about 10:30 p.m. Monday. At least one bullet pierced
the upper torso of the toddler, identified as Joslin Cisneros, killing her
almost instantly, Galvin said.

Another sister, Jazmine Cisneros, 13, was struck in the forearm, he said.
The girls' mother, Margarita Bustos, was also hit, possibly by bullet
fragments, in the chest, he said.

Both mother and the surviving sister were listed in stable condition at
University of New Mexico Hospital, he said.

The three were in the living room at the time of the shooting. Hector
Cisneros, the father, and the family's 8-year-old son were in the kitchen
when the shooting occurred; neither of them was injured, Galvin said.

The incident was initially described as a drive-by shooting, but police now
believe that the suspect or suspects fired while on foot, Albuquerque
police Capt. Rob DeBuck said.

Police are looking for a 1997 or 1998 blue Chevy Suburban with gold-
colored wheels in connection with the shooting.

The shooting may have been the result of an earlier confrontation between
the residents of the northern portion of the duplex, Albuquerque police
Sgt. Carlos Argueta said.

The design of the small duplex may have confused the shooters into thinking
that the dwelling was actually one home, he said.

Neighbors in the community, known as the Raynolds Addition, told police the
sound of gunfire at night is so common that they pay little attention to
it, Argueta said.

One neighbor said she called police about five hours before the shooting to
complain about drug dealings in an alley just north of the duplex.

Neighbors also said that they have complained about the duplex and another
one similar to it in the same block, saying drugs, weapons and domestic
violence there are disrupting what they said is an otherwise peaceful
neighborhood.

Police are asking the public for help in solving the case.

"We've got to find who did such a crime," Argueta said. "A child is dead.
That hits pretty close to home."

Anyone with information is asked to call Albuquerque police at 242- COPS
or, to remain anonymous, Albuquerque Crimestoppers at 843- STOP.