Las Cruces bowling massacre film comes to El Paso

One of the worst crimes the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico endured took place on Feb. 10, 1990 when two men walked into Las Cruces Bowl and held a robbery leaving seven shot and four killed.

This unsolved crime lead filmmaker Charlie Minn to create a documentary "A Nightmare in Las Cruces." Minn said ever since he first heard of the horrendous crime, it never left his mind.

In honor of the victims and their families, Minn released the documentary for the 20th anniversary Bowling Massacre. Minn said in creating this documentary he wanted to "evoke emotion."

"Everyone in the border is aware of the crime. By making the film, it is a powerful medium. I wanted to create emotion and for people to start talking about it again," Minn said.
"A Nightmare in Las Cruces" is also set to screen Feb. 26 at El Paso's Premiere Cinema 18 at Bassett Place Mall.

Las Cruces Movie Theater Cineport 10 first premiered the documentary with sold-out shows and has also been shown in Alamogordo, N.M.
Minn said he wanted to remind everyone that this tragic crime remains unsolved to this day and hopes that people who watch this documentary will come forward if they have any information.

Gloria Woods lost her 13-year-old daughter Amy Houser in the tragedy. Woods said when she first heard that Minn wanted to create a documentary she was skeptical about it.
"If Minn's effort is to surface new leads to the detective I support it," Woods said. "We were a small community, no crime. When it happened, the community was saddened."
 

With this documentary coming to El Paso, Woods said she hopes it impacts people.
"(With) Minn's hard work, I hope it solves the case farther and beyond that," Woods said.
The film has gathered the attention of a local cinema.

"We support independent film makers and we are happy to be the venue for local films to help them in their start," said Martin Watson, theater director for Premiere Cinema 18.
Francis Regalado, junior multimedia journalism major said she heard about the documentary on a local TV station.

Since the Bowling Massacre happened around our borders, Regalado thinks it's a good idea that a documentary was made.

"Since the killers have not been caught, it would be good for the public to see what happened to give awareness for anyone who can give leads," Regalado said.
Regalado said she plans to attend the showing of Minn's documentary.
"The thought of how inhumane someone can kill children who are innocent is horrible. My heart goes out to the victim's families," Regalado said.

The documentary runs about two hours, and the cinema holds about 150 seats, Watson said. Tickets went on sale Feb. 22, and for more information about show times and prices, call Premiere Cinema 18 at Bassett Place Mall at 771-7900.

For information regarding the ongoing investigation about the Bowling Massacre, contact the Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (575) 526-8000.
 

Lourdes M. Ortiz may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.