El Paso shooting: 1 dead, 3 injured at Cielo Vista mall

One person was killed and three others were wounded in a shooting Wednesday night at a shopping center in El Paso, Texas, authorities said, and two suspects were arrested.

The shooting was reported at 5:05 p.m. local time at the Cielo Vista Mall, El Paso Interim Police Chief Peter Pasillos said at a press conference Wednesday evening.

Within three minutes of the shooting, off-duty officers working security at the mall responded and one of those officers took the suspect into custody, Pasilas said.

“We had off-duty officers at a local agency in the mall and they were on the scene at 5:08 p.m., within three minutes,” Pacillas said, adding that the off-duty officer arrested the suspect without firing a shot. with weapons.

One victim was pronounced dead at the scene and three others were taken to local hospitals, police said. Their conditions were not reported. All four victims were male, Pasilas said.

The police chief did not provide details on how the second suspect was apprehended, and the names, ages or descriptions of the victims or suspects have not been released.

“There is no more danger to the public,” Pasilas said of the situation.

El Paso Police Sergeant Robert Gomez told reporters in an earlier briefing that the investigation indicated that the shooting occurred “around the food court area, but that has not been confirmed.”

There was no word yet on the motive.

Multiple agencies responded to the shooting, including the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and the US Border Patrol. The FBI was assisting El Paso police in the investigation, Pacillas said. Jeffrey Downey, special agent in charge of the FBI’s El Paso field office, praised the off-duty officer who arrested the first suspect.

“A lot of credit has to be given to the officer who was at the mall tonight and was able to apprehend one of these individuals in a very short amount of time,” Downey said.

Pasilas said the mall will remain “closed” until authorities complete their initial investigation.

The shooting took place exactly one week after the 24-year-old shooter in the village of 2019 mass shooting at a nearby Walmart — where 23 people were killed by a man who deliberately targeted Hispanics — pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes and firearms. This Walmart is across the street from Cielo Vista Mall.

The shooter, Patrick Crusius, agreed as part of a plea deal to accept 90 consecutive life sentences, one for each count of the indictment.