Cielo Vista Mall workers who survived 2019 Walmart massacre describe horror of latest El Paso mass shooting

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Shopping mall workers who survived the 2019 Walmart massacre have described their horror at finding themselves in the midst of the latest mass shooting to rock El Paso, Texas.

One victim was killed and three others hospitalised when gunfire erupted inside the Cielo Vista Mall on Wednesday.

Two male suspects have now been taken into custody with the motive still unknown.

The Cielo Vista Mall is directly adjacent to the Walmart store where a lone gunman murdered 23 people in a racist attack back in August 2019.

Several of the same local residents and workers who survived that day three years ago were at the mall on Wednesday, living through their second mass shooting in the space of less than four years.

Robert Gonzalez told CNN that Wednesday’s shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall brought back “bad memories” of the Walmart mass shooting.

“I was working [at the mall] the last time this happened with the Walmart shooting so it just brought back bad memories,” said Mr Gonzalez.

He said that he “saw people running to the exit” of the mall on Wednesday and he fled to his car.

Another mall worker Brandon Chavez, 29, told the outlet that he has also now lived through the two mass shootings in the half-mile radius.

He was working in the Buckle clothing store located across from the food court when Wednesday’s shooting unfolded, he said.

Mr Chavez said that employees and customers banded together to barricade themselves inside the store and then hide in the stock room until it was safe to come out.

It was a stark reminder of 2019 when he said he was also forced to shelter in the store.

Back then, on 3 August 2019, Patrick Crusius, now 24, drove 10 hours from his home in Dallas to the largely Hispanic community.

There, he entered the Walmart on a busy weekend and opened fire, killing 23 and wounding more than two dozen more in what remains one of the worst mass shootings in American history.

Prosecutors say he intentionally targeted the store in the Hispanic community due to his extremist, racist beliefs.

Before the massacre, he had posted a racist document online claiming the shooting was “in response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas”.

Just one week before this latest shooting, Crusius pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and weapons charges.

Wednesday’s shooting unfolded at around 5pm when gunfire erupted inside the food court of the Cielo Vista Mall, causing terrified shoppers and workers to flee and barricade themselves inside stores.

“During this incident, it was chaotic,” El Paso Sgt Robert Gomez said at a press conference in the aftermath.

“People did flee. They were scared. There was shots fired in the mall, it does cause panic.”

The first suspect was apprehended within minutes – by 5.08pm – by an off-duty law enforcement officer who was working security at the mall at the time.

The officer heroically responded to the gunfire and quickly subdued the gunman.

El Paso Interim Police Chief Peter Pacillas said that officers then arrived at the shopping mall to find one victim – a male – dead at the scene.

Three other male victims were rushed to local hospitals – two at University Medical Center in El Paso and the third at the Del Sol Medical Center.

In an initial press conference, Sgt Gomez said that officers were sweeping the mall for a second gunman.

In a second press conference, police confirmed that the second suspect had also been taken into custody and that at least weapon had been recovered from the scene.

The identities of the victims and the suspects have not yet been publicly released. They are all male but their ages and identities remain unknown .

No motive has been given and it is unclear if the attack was targeted or random.

However, Chief Pacillas reassured the public that “there is no more danger”: “There is no more danger. I want to repeat that: There is no more danger to the public.”

Officials have commended the heroic actions of the unidentified off-duty officer with the FBI saying that “a great deal of credit” goes to them for being “able to get one of these individuals into custody” quickly.

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is facing a backlash for his response to the shooting in his state – coming after 21 students and staff members were killed in the Uvalde massacre last year and where he has repeatedly relaxed gun laws.

“I spoke to Mayor Leeser about the shooting tonight in El Paso. l offered the full support of the State of Texas, including the assistance of the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Division of Emergency Management to help the city of El Paso respond to this tragic event,” he tweeted about the shooting on Wednesday night.

“Thank you to all law enforcement and first responders who quickly went into action to protect their fellow Texans.”

His tweet sparked an instant backlash with Rep Veronica Escobar, whose district covers El Paso, firing back: “How about gun violence prevention legislation for our community’s security?

“You promised you would take action after the August 3rd shooting and you’ve done nothing but loosen gun laws. The legislature is in session. Be a man of your word for once and do something!”

Throughout Mr Abbott’s eight-year tenure as governor, Texas has been rocked by at last six other major mass shootings, according to a Texas Tribune database.

Last year, on 24 May 2022, an 18-year-old armed with a legally purchased AR-15 entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and murdered 19 small children and two teachers.

Despite the desperate pleas of the grieving families in Uvalde, Mr Abbott continues to refuse to even discuss the possibility of changing the state’s weak gun laws.