Witness in deadly Texas shooting: I saw woman with groceries just fall
Suspect who killed 20 people at Walmart store in El Paso arrested
EL PASO The man who killed 20 people in a gun rampage in a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday wore glasses, khaki trousers and a dark T-shirt, according to images seen on El Paso television station KTSM's website.
Citing law enforcement sources, the station said the images were security cameras from inside the store.
He wielded an assault rife and appeared to be wearing headphones or ear protection, the images showed.
A suspect being questioned by police has not been named by the authorities, although US media have identified him as Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old who lives on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas.
A witness who gave her name as Vanessa said she had just pulled into the carpark at Walmart and "all of a sudden, you hear what sounded like fireworks, really loud fireworks.
"You could hear the pops, one right after another and at that point as I was turning, I saw a lady, seemed she was coming out of Walmart, headed to her car.
"She had her groceries in her cart and I saw her just fall," she told Fox News. She added that she had seen one man open fire.
"He was carrying a dark rifle and he was just pointing at people and just shooting and, yeah, the last thing I saw, he shot somebody that was in a corner."
After seeing the woman fall in the carpark, "that was when I thought, okay, this is not - these aren't fireworks... He was just shooting randomly.
"It wasn't to any particular person. It was any that would cross paths."
Shoppers fled for their lives, including Ms Kianna Long who was at Walmart with her spouse when they heard gunfire.
"People were panicking and running," Ms Long said.
"They were running close to the floor, people were dropping on the floor."
Her husband, Mr Kendall Long, said the sound of gunfire seemed to move indoors after initial shots that he heard coming from outside.
CHILDREN
The couple sprinted through a stockroom at the back of the store before huddling with other customers in a steel container in a shipping area.
Mr Glendon Oakley, an off-duty soldier who was in the store, told KTSM-TV that he and another man rounded up children they saw running in terror without their parents and hustled them to safety.
Local media said there was such an overwhelming response to appeals for blood donations that long lines formed at medical centres, where some would-be donors were asked to return on Sunday.
At a Democratic presidential candidate forum in Las Vegas, a clearly emotional Beto O'Rourke, a former Texas congressman who is from El Paso, broke the news to the audience about the deadly mass shooting in his home city.
Addressing reporters, he teared up and struggled to deliver a short statement.
"I am incredibly saddened and it is very hard to think about this," he said.
"El Paso is the strongest place in the world."
Speaking to reporters outside a hospital in El Paso later where he was visiting victims of the shooting, Mr O'Rourke said US President Donald Trump "is a racist and he stokes racism in this country and it does not just offend our sensibilities, it fundamentally changes the character of this country and it leads to violence". - REUTERS, AFP
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