Texas shooting: 20 killed and suspect charged with murder after El Paso shopping mall attack

Twenty people have been killed and 26 injured after a gunman opened fire at a shopping complex in the Texas city of El Paso.

The gunman went on a rampage inside a Walmart store just before 11am on Saturday (6pm UK time).

A 21-year-old man, named by US media as Patrick Crusius, is in police custody. Police said he is from the city of Allen, near Dallas.

El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza said the suspect has been charged with capital murder.

US Attorney John Bash said he is working with authorities in bringing federal hate crimes charges and federal firearms charges, which would carry the death penalty against the suspect.

"We are treating it as a domestic terrorism case, and we’re gonna do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is deliver swift and certain justice," Mr Bash said.

El Paso shooting - in pictures

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The suspect was arrested without any shots being fired outside the Walmart near the Cielo Vista Mall, a few miles from the US-Mexican border, police said.

The mass shopping area was packed with as many as 3,000 people during the busy back-to-school season when the gunman opened fired.

CCTV stills said to be of the shooter show a man in a black t-shirt with khaki coloured trousers entering a shop carrying a rifle and wearing ear defenders.

In this CCTV image obtained by KTSM 9 news channel shows the gunman as he enters the  Walmart store
AFP/Getty Images

Police are investigating the possibility the shooting was a hate crime, and whether an anti-immigrant post written online shortly before the attack was penned by the man who was arrested.

Officers had initially responded to reports that there were multiple gunmen at the mall, but later said that was incorrect.

The shooting came less than a week after a 19-year-old gunman killed three people and injured 13 others at the popular garlic festival in California. It is believed to be the eight deadliest in modern US history.

El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said many of the 26 people who were hurt had life-threatening injuries. "The scene was a horrific one," he said.

President Donald Trump tweeted: "Terrible shootings in El Paso, Texas. Reports are very bad, many killed.

"Working with State and Local authorities, and Law Enforcement. Spoke to Governor to pledge total support of Federal Government. God be with you all!"

Among the 20 dead was a 25-year-old woman who was shot while holding her two-month-old son, her sister said.

Leta Jamrowski, 19, said her sister Jordan Anchondo, a mother of three, was shot dead while shopping for back-to-school supplies. Her baby suffered broken bones caused by his mother's fall.

"From the baby's injuries, they said that more than likely my sister was trying to shield him," she told The Associated Press. "So when she got shot she was holding him and she fell on him, so that's why he broke some of his bones. So he pretty much lived because she gave her life."

Two people outside the mall in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting
EPA

Video from inside the mall appeared to show people with their arms up as they ran to get out of the complex safely.

One witness, identified as Vanessa, told broadcaster ABC News she saw victims near the shooter who had become cornered and had nowhere to run.

She said she watched the gunman raise a rifle, aim it at them and start shooting.

She described the man as walking with confidence into the store "like he was on a mission".

Police outside the mall where several people are believed to have been killed in a shooting in El Paso.
AFP/Getty Images

Another witness, 82-year-old Vietnam veteran Darson Greene, told NBC News: “I was shopping with my grandchild… she said 'Granddaddy what is that fireworks sound?,’ you know the popping sound coming out from inside the store.

“I grabbed my granddaughter realising it was gunshots and ran to the back of the store where the employees were ushering us into little crates.

“I seen the shooter. We were in the front of the store and he arrived in the front of the store. I ran like I have never run before.

“He looked like a kid, not even in his 30s."

Presidential candidate and former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, who is from El Paso, appeared shaken after news of the shooting in his hometown was reported.

He suspended campaigning to fly home and "be with my family and be with my hometown", saying the country needs to "keep that s*** on the battlefield. Do not bring it into our communities."

Former Vice President Joe Biden said he tried to call Mr O'Rourke and told reporters: "Enough is enough."

"This is a sickness," Mr Biden said. "This is beyond anything that we should be tolerating." He added: "We can beat the NRA. We can beat the gun manufacturers."

Mr Trump added in a later tweet: "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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