Feb 15 (Reuters) – (This Feb. 15 story has been refiled to delete an extraneous quote in paragraph 2)
One person was killed and three were wounded on Wednesday in a shooting at an El Paso, Texas, shopping mall, police said.
A police spokesman, Robert Gomez, told reporters one suspect was in custody, but media reports said a second person was also taken into custody following the shooting at Texas’ Cielo Vista Mall. The motive in the shooting was not known.
“It was chaotic. People did flee. They were scared. Like I said, there were shots fired in the mall. It does cause panic,” Gomez said.
[1/4] Shoppers leave as law enforcement members respond to a shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall, in El Paso, Texas, U.S February 15,2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
Police called it an active scene and asked the public to avoid the area.
News video showed the parking lot filling with patrol cars, their lights flashing.
“Units are clearing the mall. They are gathering witnesses. This is a large scene as it being a mall, so it’s going to take time,” Gomez said, adding he had no information on the condition of the wounded.
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The Cielo Vista mall is next to the Walmart store where a gunman killed 23 people on Aug. 3, 2019. A week ago, a Texas man pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in that massacre in a plea deal that spared him a federal death sentence. But he still faces the death penalty in a separate state prosecution.
Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Sneha Bhowmik in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler and Gerry Doyle
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