The Latest: Memorial for victims of El Paso shooting begins
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Latest on the shooting in El Paso, Texas, that killed 22 people (all times local):
8 p.m.
A memorial for the people killed in a mass shooting in El Paso is under way.
Thousands of people attended the event at a baseball stadium in downtown El Paso that featured 22 luminarias, one light for each of the victims.
Addressing the crowd, El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said: “Hate will never overcome our love. Hate will never overcome who we are.”
He added: “We are a bilingual family ... We are successful because of our people. There is nowhere in North America like El Paso-Juárez.”
The man charged with the shootings is believed to have posted an anti-immigrant rant online and told police he targeted Mexicans.
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6 p.m.
Mexico’s president said he wants the United States to extradite the shooter who killed 22 people at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart on Aug. 3 so he can be tried in Mexico, too.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador made the call Wednesday in a speech in the southern state of Oaxaca (wah-HAH’-kah).
The two countries have had in the past an arrangement in which a suspect convicted in one country can be immediately extradited for trial in the other before serving his sentence in either country.
Authorities say 21-year-old Patrick Crusius confessed to the Aug. 3 shooting and told investigators that he targeted Mexicans during the attack. He’s also suspected of posting a racist, anti-immigrant screed online before opening fire in the Texas border city.
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12:20 p.m.
Authorities in El Paso, Texas, say they have finished processing the scene at a Walmart where a man opened fire on the busy store and killed 22 people earlier this month.
El Paso police said Wednesday they will return control of the property to Walmart.
Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins says the store remains a “secure location with controlled access.” She says a fence will remain around the store’s perimeter and that Walmart is using contracted security guards to prevent trespassing.
The city opened a center to help people with everything from counseling and financial assistance to figuring out how to get vehicles back after the Aug. 3 shooting. The city will host a memorial service Wednesday to honor the victims.
Police say 21-year-old Patrick Crusius was targeting Mexicans when he carried out the shooting. He is charged with capital murder.
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11:40 a.m.
El Paso will hold a ceremony to memorialize the 22 people killed this month when a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in the Texas border community.
The city will hold a memorial service at 7 p.m. Wednesday to officially honor the victims, whose loved ones have marked their passing with vigils and funerals in the U.S. and Mexico.
City spokesman Rick Isaias says plans for the service are still taking shape, but the mayors of El Paso and the neighboring Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez will both speak, along with several religious leaders.
Isaias says officials don’t know how many people with attend, but have made plans for a large crowd. The ceremony will be held at Southwest University Park and broadcast live to four other locations.