One Dead, Two Arrested, and Three Injured: Latest Updates on the El Paso Mall Shooting

Two suspects are in custody in relation to a shooting that left one person dead and three others injured at Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday afternoon, according to officials.

“There is no more danger to the public,” interim El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas told reporters at a briefing later that night. The mall, however, remains an active crime scene, as an investigation is underway.

Police received multiple calls at around 5:05 p.m. reporting shots fired at the mall, Pacillas said, and an off-duty officer responded approximately three minutes later and was able to apprehend one of the suspects. The second suspect was arrested later. The FBI and U.S. Border Patrol also responded to the situation to assist local law enforcement.

No information on the suspects or the victims has been released, except that the three hospitalized victims are male.

“At this time, it’s too early to discuss or speculate what the motive of the shooter or the reason for the shooting was,” El Paso Police Department Spokesman Sgt. Robert Gomez said at an earlier briefing.

Gomez was asked about unverified footage shared on social media of people fleeing the scene. “It was chaotic,” he responded. “They were scared.”

Ryan Mielke, a spokesman for University Medical Center, one of the hospitals where victims were taken, told local media that two patients are in critical condition following the shooting.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted on Twitter that he has spoken to El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser about the shooting, and he offered assistance from state agencies to help respond to this “tragic event.”

The incident on Wednesday occurred next to the Walmart store where 23 people were killed in one of the worst mass shootings in modern U.S. history in August 2019. The gunman pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges earlier this month.

“Today’s shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall has brought back traumatic memories for many of us,” tweeted Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who represents the El Paso area. “No community deserves multiple incidents of gun violence,” she added.

There have been more than 70 mass shootings in the U.S. during 2023 so far, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one with at least four people killed or injured, not including the shooter. Earlier this week, three students were killed and five remain hospitalized in critical condition from a mass shooting at Michigan State University.