A gunman opened fire at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas on Saturday, reportedly killing at least 20 people and injuring nearly 30 in the latest mass shooting in the United States. The gunman later surrendered to the police.
The mass shooting at El Paso comes barely a week after a teenager armed with an assault rifle opened fire at a California food festival in Gilroy.
According to Reuters, shoppers at Walmart were buying back-to-school supplies when the gunman opened fire. The suspect was officially identified as a 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas. Authorities said the suspect surrendered at the scene and was taken into custody without incident.
Media reports named the suspect as Patrick Crusius.
Footage taken on camera phones showed bodies on the ground at Walmart's parking lot and terrified shoppers running out of the store as gunfire echoed.
Three Mexican nationals were said to be among the dead, and six others were among the injured. The latest shooting is ranked the eighth deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
“We are going to aggressively prosecute it both as capital murder but also as a hate crime, which is exactly what it appears to be,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott told reporters.
Walmart issued a statement and said that they are working closely with law enforcement.
Investigations are under way. Police officials said they are examining a manifesto from the suspect indicating a “potential nexus to a hate crime”.
It was also reported that a four-page statement posted on 8chan, an online message board often used by extremists, and believed to have been authored by the suspect, called the Walmart attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas”. It also extended support to the Christchurch shooter who killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to call the shooting an “act of cowardice”.
“Terrible shootings in ElPaso, 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!” he wrote.
(With inputs from agencies)