THE ESSENTIAL
Twenty people were killed Saturday morning in El Paso, a predominantly Hispanic city, and less than 13 hours later, nine others in a bustling district of Dayton, Ohio, northeast. The two shooters were arrested and identified for the police: in both cases, they are white men. And for at least one of them, the police suspect a racist motivation.
What happened ?
In El Paso, Texas, near the Mexican border, a single man armed with an assault rifle opened fire on Saturday near a popular Walmart hypermarket in the Hispanic community, killing 20 people and injuring 26 people . He surrendered and was taken into custody.
Thirteen hours later in Dayton, Ohio, in the north-east of the country, a gunman opened fire in a busy downtown area shortly after one in the morning, leaving nine dead and 27 wounded. The suspect, who was using an assault rifle with large magazines and extra ammunition, was killed less than a minute after police began patrolling the neighborhood.
Who are the shooters?
In El Paso, the gunman is a 21-year-old white man from Allen, near Dallas, nine hours drive from El Paso. According to some media reports, his name is Patrick Crusius. The authorities have announced that they will seek the death penalty against him. And the case is treated as a case of "domestic terrorism," announced federal justice.
In Dayton, the perpetrator of the massacre was Connor Betts, a 24-year-old white man, police said. According to CBS News, he is from Bellbrook, Ohio.
What were their motives?
Police, who suspect a racist motive, investigates a manifesto attributed to the shooter of El Paso, denouncing including "a Hispanic invasion of Texas" and referring to the killing by a white supremacist in mosques in Christchurch New Zealand (51 dead, March 15th).
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In Ohio, the authorities have not yet identified any motive. The fact that the gunman was heavily armed, however, suggests that he intended to kill a large number of people.
Who are the victims ?
According to Mexican officials, three Mexicans were killed in the killing in El Paso and six are among the wounded. According to some media, the wounded, some of whom are still in serious condition, are aged between 2 and 82 years old.
Little information has been leaked about the identity of the victims in Dayton, except that the 22-year-old's sister is one of them. The shooting took place in a busy part of the city, which was mostly used by young people at this time of night.