At least 20 people have been killed and 26 others wounded when an armed gunman opened fire at a shopping center in El Paso of United States, a media report said on Sunday.
While investigations are ongoing into a motive, the attack “has a nexus to a hate crime,” El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said. Authorities think the gunman posted a manifesto online listing “the Hispanic invasion of Texas” as one of several motivations for the massacre, the Washington Post wrote.
The attack, which started around 10:40 a.m. on a scorching Texas summer day, sent shoppers racing for cover in a chaotic but all-too-familiar scene of carnage that prompted a massive police and medical response.
One official said the specific number of people killed and injured was subject to change, noting that some victims were in critical condition.
President Donald Trump made no public remarks after the shooting, instead offering his condolences via Twitter while he stayed at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course. Trump tweeted that he had spoken to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to “pledge total support of Federal Government.”
The president also tweeted that the attack “was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today’s hateful act.”
