29 dead in 2 mass shootings in Ohio and El Paso in less than 24 hours

29 dead in 2 mass shootings in Ohio and El Paso in less than 24 hours
Fecha de publicación: 
4 August 2019
0
Imagen principal: 
  • There have been two mass shootings in the US over the weekend — one in El Paso, Texas, and one in Dayton, Ohio.
  • They occurred less than 24 hours apart. It's also just a few days after a gunman killed three people at a garlic festival in California.
  • In Ohio, police say nine people were killed, plus the shooter, and a further 26 were injured.
  • In Texas, 20 were killed and at least 26 were injured.
  • Here's what we know so far.
  • Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Two mass shootings left at least 29 dead in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas on Sunday and Saturday. The shootings occurred less than 24 hours apart.

In Ohio on Sunday, reports of the shooting began at around 1AM in the Oregon entertainment district of Dayton. Police say nine were killed, plus the shooter, and 26 were injured, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In El Paso, Texas Saturday, 20 were killed and at least 26 were injured. The suspected shooter was arrested.

The shootings were the 31st and 32nd mass shootings in the US in 2019, according to The New York Times, which defines a mass shooting as a single shooting incident that kills three or more people.

Here's what we know so far.

A shooter opened fire in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday.

el paso shooting
Police are seen after a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 3, 2019.
Reuters/Jose Luis Gonzalez


The suspect was a 21-year-old white man.

Twenty people were killed, and 26 others were injured.

Read more: 20 people killed, 26 injured in a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart, Texas officials say

3 Mexican nationals were killed and 6 were wounded. Investigators are currently looking into a manifesto the suspect may have written, which details anti-immigrant beliefs and fears that Hispanic people will turn Texas into a "Democrat stronghold."

Read more: 3 Mexican nationals were killed and 6 were wounded in the El Paso shooting, Mexican officials say

The suspect appears to have posted about his rampage on 8chan's /pol imageboard — a place on the internet that continues to radicalize mass shooters, such as Brenton Tarrant who live-streamed the massacre he inflicted in Christchurch.

There's an obsession with "high scores," meaning more points for a larger body count.

Read more: The El Paso shooting suspect appears to have posted about his rampage on 8chan — and it shows how the massacre of innocent people is becoming 'gamified'

An off-duty soldier was present at the scene. He told media outlets he grabbed children and carried them to safety during the shooting.

"I'm in the military, so when I hear the gunshots we're trained to think fast," he said. "Grab your weapon, think fast, take cover, do anything you can."

Read more: Off-duty soldier describes how he scooped up children and carried them to safety during the El Paso shooting

Beto O'Rourke gave a speech where he was visibly shaken on Saturday. He said he would return to his hometown of El Paso and announced he was cutting his campaign trail short.

"I'm thinking about El Paso, I want you to be thinking about El Paso as well," he said. "There is no luxury in this democracy of sitting this one out, whether it is gun violence, whether it is many of the issues we discuss today ... It is on every single one of us to make this right."

Read more: 2020 candidates and local celebrities react to the deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas that killed at least 18 people on Saturday

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said people all over the world were looking at the US and wondering what's going on.

"What is the mental health situation in America, where time after time, after time, after time, we're seeing indescribable horror?" he said.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said "enough is enough," and the mass shootings in the US are "a sickness."

"This is beyond anything that we should be tolerating," he said. "We can beat the NRA. We can beat the gun manufacturers."

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted: "Far too many communities have suffered through tragedies like this already. We must act now to end our country's gun violence epidemic."

Read more: At least 8 people were killed and almost 50 were injured in 8 mass shootings across the US this weekend

President Trump called the tragedy a "terrible shooting" and promised "total support of [the] Federal Government."

"Today's shooting in ElPaso, Texas, was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice," he tweeted. "I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today's hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people."

Read more: El Paso police say 1 suspect is in custody in connection with the deadly Walmart shooting. Here's what we know.

Another mass shooting happened less than 24 hours later in Dayton, Ohio.

Police responded to another mass shooting in the US less than 24 hours later, in Dayton, Ohio. Local media site WHIO reported the shooting occurred at or near Ned Peppers Bar on East Fifth Street.

There are reports of 10 people dead, including the shooter, and 26 wounded.

The first reports came in about 1 a.m local time. There are some eyewitness accounts that report the shooter was denied entry into the bar before opening fire.

The shooter has not yet been identified, but according to WHIO, he used a .223-caliber high-capacity magazine rifle and was covering his face, possibly with a mask.

Police are currently investigating the attack and seeking witnesses.

Read more: Police are responding to reports of 'an active shooter incident' in Dayton, Ohio

A post on the bar's Instagram page stated everyone was safe and their "hearts go out to everyone involved."

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.