2019 El Paso Walmart Shooting
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Overview
The 2019 El Paso Walmart Shooting refers to a mass shooting that occurred near the Walmart and Cielo Vista shopping centers in El Paso, Texas in early August 2019. 20 people were killed in the attack and another 26 sustained injuries.
Background
At approximately 10:39 a.m. on August 3rd, 2019, shots were fired at the Walmart Supercenter byo the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas. According to a witness, the attack initially took place outside Walmart before the shooter entered the store.
Developments
Police Response
That day, the @EPPolice Twitter feed announced that the shooting scene was "still active" and that there were "reports of multiple shooters" (shown below).
Scene is still Active. We have multi reports of multiple shooters. Please avoid area police conducting search of a very large area. Media staging will be given when area is secure.
— EL PASO POLICE DEPT (@EPPOLICE) August 3, 2019
Online Reaction
That day, Redditor dubdad submitted a post about the shooting to /r/news.[2] Also on August 3rd, Twitter user itsjawwsh_ posted screenshots of tweets linking the shooting to antifa, attributing the claims to what she referred to as a "hoax" article published by the conservative news site The Daily Caller (shown below).
Far-right Twitter is trying to use a Daily Caller hoax from a few days ago to blame the El Paso shooting on antifa.
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) August 3, 2019
To be clear: The Daily Caller report is 100% disinformation. If anything, that type of fear-mongering is the stuff that motivates acts of violence. pic.twitter.com/SqSsRvHsG1
The same day, Twitter user @itsjawwsh_ uploaded a video clip of a person hiding under a table while gunshots can be heard firing in the background, claiming it was taken at a Walmart McDonald's near the Cielo Vista center (shown below).
McDonald’s inside Walmart near Cielo Vista pic.twitter.com/DUGz0YsDui
— Joshua Anthony ∞ (@itsjawwsh_) August 3, 2019
Meanwhile, CNN released Snapchat videos of people fleeing the scene of the shooting (shown below).
Suspect
While initial reports indicated that there were multiple suspects, El Paso police subsequently confirmed that only one person was in custody and that they did not "believe there was anyone outstanding" (shown below).
UPDATE: One person is in custody in connection with the El Paso, Texas shooting, El Paso police confirm. "We don't believe there is anybody outstanding, so we are starting to secure the scene." https://t.co/mPi7INB5mS pic.twitter.com/CtOJXmiatm
— ABC News (@ABC) August 3, 2019
Meanwhile, the @OSINews feed posted security footage, claiming it was of the suspected shooter (shown below).
BREAKING: confirmed photos of suspected shooter as they entered the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso this morning pic.twitter.com/HYsFtGxuJ2
— OSI News (@OSINews) August 3, 2019
Shortly after, DC Examiner reporter Anna Giaritelli tweeted a photograph of a young man seated in the back of a police car, along with a message that police had identified the suspect as 21-year-old Dallas resident Patrick Crusius (shown below).
A law enforcement official in El Paso told me the Walmart shooter is in custody. Patrick Crusius of Dallas. Just turned 21 years old this week. pic.twitter.com/CEJh6rYij1
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) August 3, 2019
8chan Post and Manifesto
Approximately 45 minutes before the attack took place, a post was submitted to 8chan's /pol/ board[4] stating which discussed an impending "attack" (shown below).
Additionally, the post contained an attached manifesto, which praised the Christchurch mosque shootings and citing the Great Replacement far-right conspiracy theory. In the thread, many accused the manifesto of being a hoax.
That day, journalist Scott Stedman posted several tweets[3] about the manifesto, claiming that the FBI was "investigating" and "taking it seriously" (shown below).
I can report that the FBI is investigating this manifesto and taking it seriously.
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) August 3, 2019
On August 4th, the news blog BellingCat[5] published a post about the 8chan manifesto titled "The El Paso Shooting and the Gamification of Terror."
8chan Cloudflare Shutdown
Following the extensive coverage of the link between the imageboard and the shooting, as well as previously established links between 8chan and the 2019 Christchurch Mosque Shootings and 2019 Poway Sinagogue Shooting, the site received mainstream recognition online, with calls to shut down the website and persecute its founder and former owner Fredrick "Hotwheels" Brennan appearing on the social media. Brennan, who retired from the site in April 2016, had reinstated his support for shutting down the site.[6]
On August 4th, web performance and security company Cloudflare announced that they will be terminating support for 8chan.[7]
While removing 8chan from our network takes heat off of us, it does nothing to address why hateful sites fester online. It does nothing to address why mass shootings occur. It does nothing to address why portions of the population feel so disenchanted they turn to hate. In taking this action we've solved our own problem, but we haven't solved the Internet's.
On August 5th, the website has been voluntarily shut down by the 8chan administrators, allegedly temporarily.[8]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Archive.is – Active Shooter at El Paso
[3] Twitter – Scott Stedman twitter
[4] Web Archive – 8chan post
[5] BellingCat – The El Paso Shooting and the Gamification of Terror
[6] Twitter – @HW_BEAT_THAT's Tweet
[7] Cloudflare – Terminating Service for 8Chan
[8] Twitter – @HW_BEAT_THAT's Tweet
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