UPDATE 8/5 12:00pm ET: El Paso police confirm that another victim died in the hospital on the morning of August 5, bringing the massacre’s death toll to 21.
UPDATE 2: 8/4 3:10pm ET: El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza said in a press conference, “We will seek the death penalty. The loss of life is so great, we certainly have never seen this in our community.” US Attorney John Bash said “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.”
UPDATE AUG. 4 11:30am ET: Patrick Crusius was charged with capital murder while held in El Paso jail.
ORIGINAL: Unnamed law enforcement officials according to ABC News and the Washington Post have identified 21-year-old Patrick Crusius as the suspect who allegedly walked into an El Paso, Texas Walmart around 10:40am local time on Aug. 3, opening fire and killing 20 people while injuring over 26 others. The suspect carried out his attack with an AK-47-style assault rifle. Surveillance video showed the suspect entering the store with a rifle while wearing ear protectors and camouflage pants. He was taken into custody by police and later photographed in the back of a squad car. Here is what we know so far about suspect Patrick Crusius.
1. Patrick is from the Dallas area. Per CNN, he resides in Allen, Texas, which is a suburb north of Dallas. So he drove 650 miles, a 9 hour by car to El Paso to allegedly commit the heinous act.
2. Suspect Patrick was taken into custody without incident. El Paso Police Department spokesman, Sgt. Robert Gomez said that none of his officers needed to fire their weapons and that Patrick was taken into custody “without incident.”
3. The suspect allegedly left behind an anti-immigrant manifesto. The suspect allegedly left a four page manifesto reportedly posted to imageboard website 8Chan around 10:15am that claimed the mass murder was committed in “response to [the] Hispanic invasion of Texas.” 8chan’s moderators have since taken it down. The alleged manifesto indicated that the suspect was sympathetic to the man charged with killing 51 people earlier this year at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, two officials told The Washington Post. MSNBC reported that FBI sources are investigating an online manifesto allegedly written by the the suspect. The Washington Post reported that, “Authorities believe the gunman posted the anti-immigrant diatribe, but are still gathering evidence to prove it, according to law enforcement officials.”
4. The shooting is being looked at as a possible hate crime. El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen described to reporters that the shooting has “the nexus of a hate crime.” He also added that the police department is looking at potential capital murder charges.
NEW: El Paso Walmart shooter identified as Patrick Crusius of Dallas. Just turned 21 years old this week. #massshooting pic.twitter.com/mMYQkbR5LK
— Giovanni Cavalcante (@giovannicavett) August 3, 2019
5. A witness said the suspect seemed to be “on a mission.” An eyewitness Vanessa Saenz, told Fox News that suspect Patrick’s demeanor was “very nonchalant, like he was on a mission.” She added he was “just pointing at people and shooting straight at them. I saw about three or four just fall to the ground.”