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04th Aug 2019

Police investigating El Paso shooting as a possible hate crime

Paul Moore

texas shooting

20 people are dead and 26 others are injured.

A mass shooting at a Walmart in the Texas border city of El Paso has left 20 people dead and 26 injured. The incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime, Texas officials said.

A 21-year-old man is in custody after the mass shooting.

Local news outlets reported that the the name of the suspected shooter is Patrick Crusius, but his name has not yet been officially released by law enforcement.

There was “little to minimum force” used when law enforcement took the suspect into custody, El Paso police spokesman Robert Gomez said at a press conference.

“No law enforcement personnel fired their weapon. It happened without incident so I can assume that the person dropped his weapons,” Gomez added.

Law enforcement officials are investigating “a manifesto from this individual” that suggests the incident may be a hate crime.

“Right now, we have a manifesto from this individual that indicates to some degree a nexus to a potential hate crime,” said El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen.

He added that law enforcement still needed to “validate for certain” that the document under investigation is from the arrested suspect.

CNN have reported that investigators are “reasonably confident” that the suspect posted the document on 8chan, an extremist online message board that often features racist content.

The 8chan document under investigation by Texas law enforcement described a gun attack that was intended to be “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas”.

Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, said that it was “one of the deadliest days” in the state’s history and that “the scene was a horrific one.”

Governor Abbott added: “Our hearts go out to the victims of this horrific shooting and to the entire community in this time of loss. We have deployed troopers, special agents, Texas Rangers, tactical teams, and aircraft to the scene in a support role. The state of Texas will do everything it can to ensure justice is delivered to the perpetrators of this heinous act.”

Mexico’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that three of those people who died were from his country.

President Trump also offered his condolences by saying: “Today’s shooting in El Paso, Texas was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I stand with everyone in this country to condemn today’s hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people. Melania and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the great people of Texas.”

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Topics:

Sensitive,Texas