20 killed in Texas mass shooting, suspect in custody

At least 20 people were killed and 26 others injured in amass shooting at a shopping centre in the US state of Texas, authorities said,adding that a 21-year-old suspect was now in police custody.

The massacre took place on Saturday at a Walmart store nearthe Cielo Vista Mall in the city of El Paso, a few miles from the US-Mexicanborder, the BBC reported. El Paso’s population of 680,000 people comprise 83per cent of Hispanic descent.

   

El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said reports of an activeshooter were received at 10.39 a.m., and law enforcement officers were on thescene within six minutes.

The Walmart was full of shoppers buying back-to-schoolsupplies at the time of the attack.

The identities of the victims were yet to be ascertained butAllen told the media that “ages and genders of all these people injuredand killed are numerous in the age groups”, adding that the tragicincident could be dubbed as “hate crime”.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said onTwitter that three Mexicans were among those killed in the shooting spree. Butthis is yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, the suspect who is in custody was a resident ofthe Dallas-area city of Allen, about 1,046 km east of El Paso, the police chiefsaid, adding that authorities were looking at potentially bringing capitalmurder charges against him.

Although Allen did not identify the suspect, a lawenforcement source has named him as Patrick Crusius.

Crusius reportedly attended Collin College in McKinney,Texas from fall 2017 through spring 2019.

The District President of the school, Neil Matkin, issued astatement saying that Collin College was “saddened and horrified by thenews”.

“Collin College is prepared to cooperate fully withstate and federal authorities in their investigation of this senseless tragedy.We join the Governor and all Texans in expressing our heartfelt concern for thevictims of the shooting and their loved ones,” Matkin said.

CCTV images said to be of the gunman and broadcast on USmedia showed a man in a dark T-shirt wearing ear protectors and brandishing anassault-style rifle.

El Paso Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)were investigating whether an anonymous white nationalist”manifesto”, shared on an online forum, was written by the gunman,reports the BBC.

The document said the attack was targeted at the localHispanic community.

While addressing the media later Saturday, Governor GregAbbott described it as “one of the most deadly days in the history ofTexas”.

“We as a state unite in support of these victims andtheir family members… We must do one thing today, one thing tomorrow and eachand every day after this – we must unite.”

President Donald Trump described the attack as “an actof cowardice”.

“I know that I stand with everyone in this country tocondemn today’s hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will everjustify killing innocent people,” he wrote on Twitter.

Walmart tweeted that it was “in shock over the tragicevents” and was “working closely with law enforcement”.

The attack came less than a week after a teenage gunmankilled three people at a California food festival.

Saturday’s shooting has been dubbed the eighth deadliest inmodern US history.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

6 − 2 =