El Paso Mall Shooting: Latest Updates
TTwo suspects are in custody in connection with a shooting that killed one person and wounded three others Wednesday afternoon at the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas, officials said.
“There is no longer any danger to the public,” interim El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas told reporters at a briefing later that evening. However, the mall remains an active crime scene as an investigation is ongoing.
Police received multiple calls around 5:05 p.m. reporting gunshots at the mall, Pacillas said, and an off-duty officer answered about three minutes later and was able to arrest one of the suspects. The second suspect was later arrested. The FBI and US Border Patrol also responded to the situation to assist local law enforcement agencies.
No information about the suspects or the victims has been released, except that the three hospitalized victims are male.
“At this time, it is too early to discuss or speculate as to the shooter’s motive or the reason for the shooting,” El Paso Police Department spokesman Sgt. Robert Gomez said at a previous briefing.
Gomez was asked about unconfirmed footage shared on social media of people fleeing the scene. “It was messy,” he replied. “They were scared.”
Ryan Mielke, a spokesman for University Medical Center, one of the hospitals where the victims were taken, told local media that two patients are in critical condition following the shooting.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted on Twitter that he spoke to El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser about the shooting and that he has offered government assistance to respond to this “tragic event.”
Wednesday’s incident happened next to the Walmart store where 23 people were killed in one of the worst mass shootings in modern US history in August 2019. The shooter pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges earlier this month.
“Today’s shooting at Cielo Vista Mall brought back traumatic memories for many of us,” tweeted Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, representing the El Paso region. “No community deserves multiple incidents of gun violence,” she said added.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are killed or injured, there have been more than 70 mass shootings in the United States so far in 2023, not counting the gunman. Earlier this week, a mass shooting at Michigan State University killed three students and leaves five hospitalized in critical condition.
More must-reads from TIME