Gunman steeped in hatred of 'foreigners'
Obsessed with weapons, right-wing
Patrick Crusius, the 21-yearold who allegedly killed 20 in El Paso, loved guns, computers, the alt-right and President Trump, according to his apparent social-media accounts.
Crusius grew up attending school in Plano, Texas, with his twin sister, Emily.
The school considered Crusius as “the strange one” of the sibling duo, two ex-classmates told The Washington Post, asking that their names not be published.
Information on his parents — with whom he appeared to live in a modern, well-landscaped three-story house in wealthy Allen, Texas — was scant.
It’s unclear how Crusius traveled the 650 miles from the Dallas area to El Paso, a roughly nine-hour drive.
Records indicate that he voted in 2016, but don’t reveal his party affiliation.
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts in Crusius’ name were taken down soon after Saturday’s massacre — but in saved versions, he shows off his far-right politics and brags about his lack of motivation.
One Twitter account with his name liked tweets backing Trump and referenced #BuildTheWall and #NoSanctuaryCities.
He liked a post from a Twitter user calling himself John Doe that includes a photo of guns arranged to spell out “Trump.”
He also liked posts from Paul Joseph Watson, a far-right Youtube personality who worked for conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones at “InfoWars.”
A second now-shuttered Twitter account for “@patrickcrucius,” created earlier this month, uses as its cover image a photo of Dylann Roof, the mass murderer and white supremacist who killed nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, SC.
That Twitter user called himself an “amateur ghost hunter proud God loving Christian and Fortnite pro.”
The account includes a reference to #MAGA.
Five days before the shooting, he posted, “gun laws are honestly to [sic] strict I need my AR-47 and AK-15.” He may have been referring to AK-47 and AR-15 rifles.
A LinkedIn account from 2015 under Crusius’ name griped that he did not engage in activi
ties at Plano HS, because of “lack of freedom.”
“I’m not really motivated to do anything more than what’s necessary to get by,” he also wrote.
“Working in general sucks, but I guess a career in Software Development suits me well. I spend about 8 hours every day on the computer so that counts as technology experience I guess. Pretty much gonna see what technology careers present themselves; go with the wind.”
Crusius attended Collin County Community College in McKinney, Texas, from 2017 to the spring of 2019, CBS News reported. The school confirmed he had been a student.
The district president of the school, Dr. Neil Matkin, said in a statement that the college is “saddened and horrified by the news.”
Crusius was a loner and a “troubled youth,” a source told CBS.
A Facebook page that shows the suspect’s face as the profile image includes no biographical information or recent postings. On that page, Crusius has just three visible friends.
Crusius said on that page that he attended Plano HS.
The suspect calmly surrendered to cops in the west side of the Walmart, officials said.
Crusius will be prosecuted by the state of Texas, and faces capital murder charges, officials said.