The Latest: US officials consider death penalty for suspect
UPDATED 7:48PM – EL PASO, Texas (AP) – The Justice Department is seriously weighing federal hate crime charges against the El Paso shooting suspect that would carry the potential for a sentence of the death penalty.
That’s according to a person familiar with the department’s decision making process, who was not authorized to speak on the record and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
A gunman armed with a rifle opened fire in an El Paso shopping area packed with as many as 3,000 people during the busy back-to-school season, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured, police said. Law enforcement officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity identified the suspect as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius.
– Eric Tucker, reporting from Washington, D.C.
10 a. m.
A hospital official in El Paso says at least three victims of a mass shooting at a shopping area that left 20 people dead remain in critical condition.
Dr. Stephen Flaherty said Sunday that a total of 11 victims were taken to Del Sol Medical Center. They ranged in age from 35 to 82 years old. More than two dozen people in all were injured in Saturday’s shooting, some of whom were treated elsewhere in the Texas border city.
Flaherty told reporters that “a number of the patients” being treated at Del Sol will need to return to the operating room, and potentially multiple times.
Jail records show that the suspected gunman, 21-year-old Patrick Wood Crusius, has been booked on capital murder charges.
MASS SHOOTINGS
2 mass shootings in less than 24 hours shock US
Two mass shootings at crowded public places in Texas and Ohio in less than 24 hours claimed at least 29 lives and left scores injured, a shocking carnage even in a country accustomed to gun violence.
In the Texas border city of El Paso, a gunman opened fire Saturday morning in a shopping area packed with thousands of people during the busy back-to-school season, killing 20 and injuring more than two dozen, many of them critically. The shooting was being investigated as a possible hate crime as authorities worked to confirm whether a racist, anti-immigrant screed posted online shortly beforehand was written by the man arrested in the attack on the 680,000-resident border city.
Just hours later in Dayton, Ohio, a gunman wearing body armor and carrying extra magazines opened fire in a popular nightlife area, killing nine and injuring at least 26 people.
The Saturday shooting in El Paso and the Sunday shooting in Dayton were the 21st and 22nd mass killings of 2019 in the U.S., according to the AP/USA Today/Northeastern University mass murder database that tracks homicides where four or more people killed – not including the offender.
Including the two latest attacks, 125 people had been killed in the 2019 shootings.
Updated 11:45AM – EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A gunman armed with a rifle opened fire in an El Paso shopping area packed with as many as 3,000 people during the busy back-to-school season, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured, police said.
Hours later, another shooting in Dayton, Ohio, claimed nine lives . That gunman was killed by police.
Authorities were investigating whether Saturday’s El Paso attack was a hate crime after the emergence of a racist, anti-immigrant screed that was posted online shortly beforehand. Detectives sought to determine if it was written by the man who was arrested. The border city has figured prominently in the immigration debate and is home to 680,000 people, most of them Latino.
Federal authorities were treating the attack as a domestic terrorism case, according to the U.S. attorney.
Despite initial reports of possible multiple gunmen, the man in custody was believed to be the only shooter, police said.
Two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity identified him as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius. Authorities did not release his name at a news conference but said he was arrested without police firing any shots. He is from Allen, which is a nearly 10-hour drive from El Paso.
The suspect was booked on capital murder charges, according to jail records. There was no immediate indication that he had an attorney.
The district attorney said officials would seek the death penalty. The Justice Department was weighing federal hate crime charges that would carry the potential for the federal death penalty, according to a person familiar with the department’s decision-making process. The person was not authorized to speak on the record and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
Police say more than two dozen people were wounded in the attack at a shopping area about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the main border checkpoint with Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Many of the victims were shot at a Walmart.
“The scene was a horrific one,” El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said, adding that many of the 26 people who were hurt had life-threatening injuries.
Original Post: 8:05 pm – El Paso police now report 20 people killed, 26 more wounded receiving treatment in hospitals. Suspect in custody Patrick Crusius last known address is in Allen; he’s a 2017 graduate of Plano Sr. HS, attended Frisco’s Liberty HS, and the feds may use hate crime laws against him with a post they call a manifesto. It attributes his frustration to the “Hispanic invasion of Texas” which he further explains and blames as causing a loss of his cultural heritage. “Manifesto” on 8chan, generally considered a violent content website.
5:20 pm – CNN reports federal law enforcement officials name the suspect in custody as a resident of Allen in North Texas; 21 year old Patrick Crusius. Witnesses say a gunman opened fire outside a Walmart store near El Paso’s Cielo Vista Mall, and an unconfirmed death count of 19 is reported, with “more injured”. El Paso police say they will wait until they have clear figures before releasing the number of the dead and others being treated at El Paso area hospitals. More information as it becomes available.
3:27 pm – El Paso Police report one shooting suspect is in custody and believe him to be the lone shooter; multiple fatalities and injures at several hospitals are reported, with no definitive victim count at this time. Initial reports indicate the shooter may have fired in or outside of a Walmart store as well, but that information is not confirmed. The shootings are confirmed at Cielo Vista Mall, the area’s largest and popular mall on El Paso’s east side. The crime scene is said to be about one mile long. More information as it becomes available.
1:20 p.m. Police in El Paso, Texas, say they’ve received reports of multiple shooters at a shopping complex and are urging the public to stay away from the area.
The police department tweeted Saturday that officers are at the Cielo Vista Mall area and that it is still an active shooter scene.
Authorities haven’t given any information about possible shooting victims.
El Paso is in West Texas along the border with Mexico.
(Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
