Reports indicate multiple people have been killed in a mass shooting at a shopping complex in the city of El Paso, Texas; police have a suspect in custody.
Multiple people have been killed in a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and one man is in custody after the latest US mass shooting sent panicked shoppers fleeing.Many of those caught up in the rampage on Saturday were buying back-to-school supplies.El Paso police Sergeant Robert Gomez told reporters authorities had ruled out multiple shooters, and he said initial reports were that the gunman used a rifle."This is just a tragedy that I'm having a hard time getting my arms around," El Paso Mayor Dee Margo told CNN.
Citing a law enforcement source, El Paso television station KTSM published on its website what it said were two photos of the suspect taken by security cameras as he entered the WalMart.The images showed a young white man wearing glasses, khaki trousers and a dark T-shirt, and pointing an assault-style rifle. He appears to be wearing headphones or ear defenders.Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the images.US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that the reports from El Paso were "very bad, many killed"."Spoke to Governor to pledge total support of Federal Government," he wrote. "God be with you all!"
University Medical Center of El Paso received 13 patients, including some who died, said hospital spokesman Ryan Mielke. Two of the patients who arrived at the hospital were children who were transferred to El Paso Children's Hospital, he said.The conditions of the 13 patients ranged from deceased to minor injuries, he said. He could not immediately provide a figure on how many had died.The El Paso Police Department said the scene remained active around the Cielo Vista Mall, near the WalMart, but there was no imminent threat to the public.Another El Paso police spokesman, Enrique Carrillo, said there were more than 20 casualties, a number that could include fatalities and people wounded.He asked people who cannot reach loved ones to go to a family reunification centre at a local middle school, instead of heading to the shopping centre.Multiple law enforcement agencies raced to the scene, including police, state troopers, Homeland Security agents and border patrol.One witness said he saw at least one person inside the store with a fatal head wound, and he saw shoppers in bloodied clothes.Other stores at the nearby mall were also locked down as police officers cleared the shopping centre in the east of the city, which lies on the southern US border with Mexico.Video posted on Twitter showed customers at one department store being evacuated with their hands up."Hands in the air!" an officer can be heard shouting in the footage.At a Democratic presidential candidate forum in Las Vegas a clearly emotional Beto O'Rourke, a former Texas congressman who is from El Paso, broke the news to the audience that he had just heard about the deadly mass shooting in his home city.O'Rourke said he had spoken to his wife Amy, who was driving in the city with one of their children. Addressing reporters, he teared up and struggled to deliver a short statement."I am incredibly saddened and it's very hard to think about this," he said. "El Paso is the strongest place in the world. This community is going to come together. I'm going back there right now to be with my family, to be with my home town."The Democrat said he had heard early reports the shooter might have had a military-style weapon, saying we need to "keep that (expletive) on the battlefield and do not bring it into our communities."We have to find some reason for optimism and hope or else we consign ourselves to a future where nearly 40,000 people are year will lose their lives to gun violence and I cannot accept that," O'Rourke said.
https://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/reports-of-multiple-shooters-in-us-mall/news-story/d60e40b2211ed25d88b65ffbfc260284
