Austin, US (TAN): At least 20 people were killed and 26 others injured when a gunman shot at will at a Walmart departmental store in El Paso, a city 577 miles (929 km) west from here on the US-Mexico border, known as a melting point of Mexican and American culture.
The shooting took place at 1040 hours local time on Saturday. The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius from Allen, a suburb near Dallas, has surrendered to police, The Washington Post said.
A witness told Fox News that as she just pulled into the Walmart parking lot, “You heard what sounded like fireworks, really loud fireworks… You could hear the pops, one right after another and at that point as I was turning, I saw a lady, seemed she was coming out of Walmart, headed to her car. She had her groceries in her cart and I saw her just fall.”
Talking about the shooter, she added, “He was wearing a black T-shirt, camo colored pants. He was wearing something to cover his ears, like headphones, really thick ones… He was carrying a dark rifle and he was just pointing at people and just shooting.”
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Reacting to the shooting, President Donald Trump tweeted, “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….”
This is the third gun violence incident in the US in a week. At a shooting on Tuesday in Mississippi, again at a Walmart, two people died and a policeman was inured. Last Sunday, a 19-year-old fired at a food festival in northern California, killing three, including two children.
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These incidents will definitely give more ammunition to the supporters of gun-control in the US.
Known as Sun City because of the many sunny days it experiences every year, El Paso is a great place to experience Mexican food and culture. The city is popular with hikers and mountain bikers. Spanish is the most common language spoken in the area, followed by English.
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