El Paso Shooting Suspect Reportedly Confessed and Said He Was Trying to Kill Mexicans
El Paso shooting suspect Patrick Crusius confessed to law enforcement and said that he had been targeting “Mexicans” in his massacre, according to a police affidavit obtained by multiple outlets on Friday.
Crusius told El Paso police, “I’m the shooter,” El Paso Det. Adrian Garcia reportedly wrote in the affidavit.
According to Garcia’s affidavit, Crusius waived his right to an attorney and agreed to speak, telling them that he traveled from Allen, Tex., a suburb of Dallas, with an assault rifle and multiple magazines.
“The defendant stated once inside the store he opened fire using his AK-47 shooting multiple innocent victims,” Garcia wrote. The detective added that Crusius said his targets were “Mexicans.”
Crusius is alleged to have murdered 22 people and injured 24 others in the shooting. Eight Mexican nationals were among the victims.
The suspect also allegedly posted a white supremacist manifesto online before the shooting. The racist nature of the attack has left people in El Paso’s Latinx community deeply shaken, and federal authorities are weighing whether to charge Crusius with hate crimes in addition to the charges of capital murder he is already facing.