SLAUGHTER IN EL PASO
20 killed, 26 wounded by monster rifleman aiming at El Paso back-to-school shoppers
AT LEAST 20 DEAD AS RIFLE-TOTING PSYCHO TARGETS TEX. SHOPPERS
A rifle-wielding gunman opened fire at an El Paso Walmart store packed with back-to-school shoppers Saturday, killing 20 people and injuring at least 26, officials said.
Patrick Crusius, 21, of suburban Dallas, was arrested at a Walmart adjacent to the Cielo Vista Mall. He had a “manifesto,” and his slayings will be investigated as a hate crime, said El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen.
Several media outlets dug up a four-page document supposedly by Crusius that rails against immigrants and expresses support for the man suspected of killing 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand in March.
Crusius wrote in the manifesto that he acted in response to “the Hispanic invasion of Texas,” the Dallas Morning News reported.
“I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion,” the manifesto states.
El Paso is more than 600 miles from the Dallas area — a nine-hour drive. It was unclear how long Crusius had been in El Paso before the rampage.
“It is a tragedy beyond tragedy,” said El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, who became distraught while speaking on CNN. “We are just torn up beyond belief.”
Gunfire was first reported at about 10:39 a.m. Crusius’ first victims were in the Walmart’s parking lot, said authorities.
One video showed several bodies in the parking lot, including some near a table by the entrance where people — including children, according to the El Paso Times — were holding a fund-raiser.
Crusius, clad in cargo pants, a black T-shirt and shooting earmuffs, was captured in another surveillance shot as he strode into the store.
Panicked shoppers ran through the Walmart’s aisles desperately trying to flee the gunfire.
A video depicted a shopper cowering as a series of gunshots slowly rang out, suggesting a methodical killing spree.
“I heard the shots but I thought they were hits, like roof construction,” said Adriana Quezada, 39.
Quezada said she was in the women’s clothing section of the Walmart with her daughter, 19, and her son, 16, the AP reported. They threw themselves to the ground, and then ran out of the store through an emergency exit.
Leslie Diaz, a 25-year-old Walmart employee, was helping customers in a checkout line when she heard several large “pops.” The popping sound gradually got closer and louder, she told the El Paso Times.
Diaz and her coworkers led some customers out of the store as others ran screaming toward the exit.
The first police officer was at the scene at 10:45 a.m. — a six-minute response time. “Everyone who carries a badge in this town pretty much showed up,” said Allen, the police chief.
Police said they arrested Crusius without incident near the scene. Quezada and other witnesses believed there were several shooters, but El Paso police believe Crusius acted alone.
More than 20 wounded victims were taken to nearby hospitals, where one victim died.
Of 11 people taken to Del Sol Medical Center, two were considered stable and nine were critical but stable. They ranged in age from 35 to 82, said hospital spokesman Victor Guerrero.
Two children, ages 2 and 9, were stabilized at University Medical Center before being transferred to the neighboring El Paso Children’s Hospital, a UMC spokesman told the AP.
President Trump called the shooting “terrible.” “God be with you all!” he wrote.
El Paso is the hometown of Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. He interrupted a campaign event in Las Vegas to tell supporters that his wife and daughter
were driving near their home at the time of the shooting and were not injured.
“El Paso is the strongest place in the world,” said O’Rourke, who cut short his campaign trip to fly home.
The gunfire at the Walmart was loud enough to be heard in malls and stores nearby.
Army veteran Glendon Oakly was shopping in a Foot Locker store in a nearby shopping mall when teenagers raced in to tell customers that there was a mass shooter.
Oakly said he heard two shots and immediately started herding young people to safety. “I was just focused on the kids,” Oakly told CNN. “I was just trying to get them out of there.”
Walmart said in a statement that the company was praying for the victims, including workers at its store.
This is second mass shooting in a week.
On Sunday, a teenage gunman opened fire with an assault-style rifle on the crowd at a food festival in Northern California, killing three people before turning the gun on himself.