El Paso mass shooting suspect is from Dallas-Fort Worth area, records show
The suspect in Saturday’s mass shooting in El Paso appeared to have lived at one time in Allen.
Multiple law enforcement sources say police have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, whose most recent address in public records is listed in Allen, about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Law enforcement agents remained at the brick and stone home late Saturday.
Twenty people were killed and more than two dozen injured in the shooting at a Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall in east El Paso, according to police and government officials. Police said the suspect used a rifle.
ATF and FBI agents on Saturday were searching homes and interviewing people in North Texas who might be related to the suspect.
Melinda Urbina, a spokeswoman for FBI Dallas field office, said special agents were at the house assisting the El Paso Police Department with its investigation. Crusius had a connection to the house, Urbina said, without elaborating on the period during which he lived there.
Craig LeBlanc, who lives in the neighborhood, said, “You don’t know who you are living next to.” So many people live their lives online and talk to each other less, he said. “You only see what people will show.”
Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach, who represents the Allen area, tweeted a statement, saying in part: “I have been apprised that the shooter, Patrick Crusius, a 2017 graduate of Plano Senior High School, resided in Allen. As State Representative for this area, I am communicating directly with local law enforcement, Plano ISD leaders & fellow state officials to ensure we are responding appropriately and offering any and all assistance and aid to our friends in El Paso.”
Federal sources told CNN that investigators are reviewing an online posting, believed to be written by Crusius days before the shooting, that may shed light on the gunman’s motive.
The posting is being investigated by authorities, but they haven’t confirmed it was written by the suspect. The manifesto refers to an attack in “response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and “defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement.”
El Paso, a city of about 680,000 residents in West Texas, is across the border from Juarez, Mexico.
El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen called the shooting a possible hate crime in a televised press conference Saturday evening and said investigators are working to verify the origins of the manifesto.
Allen didn’t name Crusius but described him as a “21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas.”
The suspect laid his weapon down and surrendered to officers near the scene of the shooting, Allen said. He was taken into custody without incident, police said.
Police believe he was the “sole shooter” but are continuing to investigate reports that others were involved, according to the Associated Press.
Allen said the shooting began at 10:39 a.m. and that police arrived within six minutes.
Public records also indicate Crusius was a student at Collin College in Collin County, Texas.
The college said in a statement on social media: “We are saddened and horrified by the news of the shooting today in El Paso, Texas. A student by the name of Patrick Crusius attended Collin College from fall 2017 through spring 2019.
“Collin College is prepared to cooperate fully with state and federal authorities in their investigation of this senseless tragedy. We join the governor and all Texans in expressing our heartfelt concern for the victims of the shooting and their loved ones.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2019 at 5:38 PM with the headline "El Paso mass shooting suspect is from Dallas-Fort Worth area, records show."