Mass shooting incidents happened in Texas and Ohio on Saturday, leading to the deaths of over 25 people and injuries to more than 50.
Dayton, Ohio
Nine people were killed and at least 26 were hurt in a shooting in downtown Dayton.
The incident happened around 1 am in a district typically crowded with tourists, according to authorities. Mayor Nan Whaley says one shooter was confirmed as involved, apparently wearing body armor and using a .223-caliber rifle during the incident.
ABC News reports the suspect gunman has been identified by multiple law enforcement sources as Connor Stephen Betts of Bellbrook, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. Betts was shot and killed “in less than a minute” by officers according to Whaley. Whaley says far more people would have been killed if law enforcement had not responded to the scene in under a minute.
El Paso, Texas
Twenty people were killed and at least 26 more were hurt when a shooter opened fire in a Walmart shortly after 10:30 am.
The suspect, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, used an assault-style rifle before he was taken into custody without incident, according to El Paso Police. A motive has not been formally determined, but law enforcement reported to ABC News that Crusius allegedly wanted to kill as many Mexicans as possible and may have left behind a related manifesto on his views. The investigation continues.
Preliminary estimates have as many as 1,000 to 3,000 people inside the store at the time of the shooting, with many buying back-to-school supplies.
The shootings earlier this weekend happened just a few days after a man killed three people and wounded over a dozen more at a garlic festival in Gilroy, California. The suspect, 19-year-old Santino Legan, committed suicide after being shot several times by law enforcement July 28. Original reports indicated Legan was a white nationalist, but authorities are still working to determine a motive in that shooting.
