EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – New Mexico State University announced Tuesday, Dec. 6 it will hire an external, third-party investigator to review the events surrounding a shooting in Albuquerque that left a University of New Mexico student dead and Aggie basketball player Mike Peake wounded.
The review of those events, involving Peake and others, will be separate from the legal investigation currently being led by New Mexico State Police. Once the third-party review is completed, the university will then publicly release an executive summary of the report.
“We will be incredibly transparent during this process,” NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu said. “We owe that to our community and to everyone associated with our university. The firm selected will be encouraged to review any public documents regarding this case and be fully empowered to speak with any NMSU employees, students or other individuals necessary to ensure we fully understand the facts.”
Arvizu said the review would also examine the university’s response in the days following the shooting.
“If there is anything we should have done differently, this report will let us know,” Arvizu said. “In the last day, we have received a number of new questions regarding this case.
“Unfortunately, some of what’s been reported in the media is information NMSU has not been provided,” Arvizu said. “To be fair to all involved, it’s important to have a more detailed understanding of what has occurred.”
The university will release the name of the selected firm once details of that contract are finalized.