30 killed in two separate mass shootings in US
New Delhi: Within 24 hours, the United States witnessed two mass shootings, one at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas and another at Dayton, Ohio, killing a total of 30 people and leaving at least 42 injured.
Ten people, including the shooter, were killed and at least 16 others injured in the wee hours of Sunday morning in Dayton's Oregon district, a neighbourhood known for its nightclubs, bars, and art galleries.
And hours before, a 21-year-old gunman had opened fire with an assault rifle at a crowded Walmart store in Texas's El Paso, killing 20 people and wounding 26 others.
The authorities identified the El Paso gunman as Patrick Crusius from an affluent Dallas suburb. They added that they were investigating a manifesto Crusius, who is white, may have posted before the shooting, which described an attack in response to "the Hispanic invasion of Texas."
El Paso has long been both a cultural and political symbol of Hispanic Texas.
While the Dayton shooter was shot dead during a stand-off with law enforcement authorities, the Walmart gunman was taken into custody by police "without incident" after he surrendered.
"The ages and genders of all these people injured and killed are numerous in the age groups," El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said. "The situation, needless to say, is a horrific one."
Whereas, Dayton Assistant Chief of Police Lt Col. Matt Carper said that despite the many fatalities, patrolling officers were close by to hear the gunshots at 1 am and bring the situation under control quickly. Officials in Ohio added that the shooter was wearing body armour.
However, in the southern border town of El Paso, a packed Walmart store, where shoppers were busy buying back to school stuff for their kids, was filled with gun smoke and the echo of gunfire for several minutes. Footage shot on mobiles appeared to show multiple bodies lying on the ground in the store's parking lot.
"Texas grieves for the people of El Paso," Texas Governor Greg Abbott told reporters.
President Donald Trump condemned the El Paso attack as an "act of cowardice" and said there could be no justification for the killing of innocent people. In a string of mass shootings this year that have killed 522 people and injured over 2,000 others, the Dayton shooting is the 251st mass shooting of 2019. There have been only 216 days in the year so far. Local sources also said that the FBI has initiated a concurrent terrorism investigation in the El Paso shooting. With PTI inputs
