Police nab 21-yr-old gunman who killed 20, injured 26 others inside Texas shopping mall

Police authorities in the US State of Texas have arrested a 21-year old gunman who opened fire at a packed shopping area in El Paso, killing at least 20 people and wounding 26 others.

Authorities say the suspect who was armed with an assault rifle was arrested outside a Walmart store near the Cielo Vista Mall, eight kilometres from a border checkpoint with Mexico.

The police is also probing the possibility that the shooting near US-Mexico border was a hate crime after anti-immigrant screed was posted online.

“Right now we have a manifesto from this individual that indicates to some degree, it has a nexus to potential hate crime,” El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said.

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Speaking to reporters, Texas governor, Greg Abbott said: “Lives were taken who should still be with us today. Twenty innocent people from El Paso have lost their lives and more than two dozen more are injured.”

He added: “We are going to aggressively prosecute it both as capital murder but also as a hate crime, which is exactly what it appears to be

Texas police confirmed that the suspect is who is from Allen, Texas, was the only person in custody even as US media identified the suspect as Patrick Crusius, a white male.

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