The Texas border city jolted by a weekend massacre at a Walmart absorbed still more grief on August 5 as the death toll climbed to 22 and fear lingered in El Paso, where the shooting rampage claimed more lives than the number of murders here just two years ago.
Anger also simmered, including toward President Donald Trump, who on August 5 addressed the nation for the first time since the attack in Texas and another in Ohio that killed 31 people in all and wounded dozens more. The possibility that Mr. Trump would come to El Paso in wake of the tragedy unnerved some residents who said his divisive words are partly to blame.
In scripted remarks from the White House, Mr. Trump urged unity while blaming mental illness and video games. He made no mention of limiting gun sales.
Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso made clear that the President was not welcome in her hometown as it mourned. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who was an El Paso congressman for six years, also said Mr. Trump should stay away.
“This President, who helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible, should not come to El Paso. We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here,” Mr. O’Rourke tweeted.
Other residents in the largely Latino city of 7,00,000 said on August 5 that Mr. Trump’s rhetoric is difficult for them to stomach.
“It’s offensive just because most of us here are Hispanic” said Isel Velasco, 25. “It’s not like he’s going to help or do anything about it.”
Authorities are scrutinising a racist, anti-immigrant screed posted online shortly before police say Patrick Crusius, 21, opened fire on August 3. Language in the document mirrors some of the words used by Mr. Trump, who on August 5 denounced white supremacy, which he has been reluctant to criticize.
The Federal Aviation Administration advised pilots of a presidential visit on August 7 to El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. But the White House had not made any formal announcement.
The El Paso shooting is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and the death toll rose on Monday as doctors announced that two more of the wounded had died. Dr. Stephen Flaherty of Del Sol Medical Center described the wounds as “devastating and major” and said that one patient who died had major abdominal injuries affecting the liver, kidneys and intestines.
The hospital did not release the names or ages of the two patients who died, but hospital officials described one as an elderly woman.
8 Mexican nationals among dead
Mexican officials have said eight Mexican nationals were among the dead. Tens of thousands of Mexicans legally cross the border each day to work and shop in El Paso. Another patient remained in critical condition.
Six of the Mexican nationals killed were from the border state of Chihuahua, across from El Paso, Mexican officials said. Chihuahua state Gov. Javier Corral Jurado characterized the attack as an “act of hate” against immigration.
This image provided by the FBI shows Texas mall attack suspect Patrick Crusius.
El Paso has long prided itself on being one of the safest cities in the nation. When years of drug cartel-driven violence in neighboring Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, left tens of thousands of people dead, El Paso still had one of the nation’s lowest crime rates. Police reported 23 murders last year and 20 the year before that, making Saturday’s rampage a year’s worth of bloodshed.
Authorities searched for any links between the suspect and the material in the document that was posted online, including the writer’s expression of concern that an influx of Hispanics into the United States will replace ageing white voters, potentially turning Texas blue in elections and swinging the White House to Democrats.
‘Divisive words’
Vanessa Tavarez, 36, from the rural West Texas town of Seagraves, travelled to El Paso on August 3 to renew her Mexican husband’s residency and work documents. They arrived with their 5-year-old son at a motel only to find police helicopters circling overhead and the swimming pool on lockdown.
Shopping at the Walmart where the shooting occurred was on the family’s to-do list before the shooting occurred. Fear nagged at them, Ms. Tavarez said, as they bought supplies that aren’t available at home and caught a movie.
“I don’t think anybody would be in favour of him [Trump] being here, first of all,” Ms. Tavarez said. “Because a lot of people probably think it’s because of him that everything happened. ... I just think people will be angry.”
Juan Figueroa, a 24-year-old Army soldier who has lived in El Paso since early this year, said his feelings about the President are complex. He said Mr. Trump has a right to go wherever he wants, including El Paso, but he worries that the President’s presence might incite more violence.
But Mr. Figueroa said he blames only the shooter for his actions.
“The big reason I think he was attacking Hispanics was he was uneducated, he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know what Hispanics don’t do or what we do out here,” mr. Figueroa said. “I mean, there’s always going to be people out there that hate other groups.”
