The Republican mayor of El Paso, Dee Margo, said on Sunday that El Paso’s binational culture – as a majority Latinx city with a sister city directly across the border in Mexico – was what made it a “special, special place” and called the gunman “deranged” for not knowing that “this is what makes our country great”.
Mourning in Ohio
The gunman in Dayton, Ohio, opened fire in the city’s downtown area around 1am on Sunday, killing nine people. He was armed with a high-powered rifle and a 100-round magazine before police shot him dead within 30 seconds of his beginning a rampage.
Law enforcement named the Dayton shooter as 24-year-old Connor Betts. Betts’s 22-year-old sister Megan was among the victims. The incident was still in the early stages of investigation and it was too early to assign a motive, the Dayton police chief, Richard Biehl, said on Sunday. But Biehl said the shooting did not appear linked to a “bias motive”.
Early reports suggest there may have been red flags in the gunman’s history. High school classmates, speaking to the Associated Press, said that Betts had been suspended from school for creating a list of people he wanted to harm.
By Sunday evening, the popular entertainment district where the attack occurred had been cleared of crime-scene tape and opened to a somber crowd for a vigil.
Hundreds of people gathered, some leaving bouquets in front of the bars or tucking flowers into bullet holes. More holes were visible in the window at Ned Peppers bar, where police killed the shooter just outside the doorstep to save those inside.
At the event, a speech by Ohio’s Republican governor was interrupted with shouts of “make a change”. As the governor, Mike DeWine, told the crowd that the families’ pain can’t be erased, many started chanting: “Do something!”
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