What happened?
El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said reports of an active shooter were received at 10:39 local time (16:39 GMT), and law enforcement officers were on the scene within six minutes. The Walmart was full of shoppers buying back-to-school supplies at the time of the attack. The 21-year-old is the only suspect in custody over the attack, and police say no officers fired their weapons while arresting him. Mr Allen said the ages of victims were "numerous" as he described the situation as "horrific". El Paso Police Department had earlier tweeted that blood donations were "needed urgently". Kianna Long said she was at the Walmart with her husband when they heard gunfire. "People were panicking and running, saying that there was a shooter," Ms Long told Reuters news agency. "They were running close to the floor, people were dropping on the floor." Ms Long said she and her husband ran through a stock room before taking cover with other customers. Image copyrightEPA Image captionKianna Long, right, spoke of the panic in Walmart Another witness, Glendon Oakly, told CNN that he was in a sporting goods store inside the nearby shopping mall when a child ran inside "telling us there's an active shooter at Walmart". Mr Oakly said no-one took the child's claim seriously, but just minutes later he heard two gunshots. "I just thought about getting the kids out of the way," he said. Image copyrightREUTERS Image captionShocked shoppers were ushered out of the area with their hands raisedWhat has been the wider reaction?
The latest mass shooting in the United States has led to an outpouring of sympathy, but also led to fresh calls for gun control. Walmart tweeted that it was "in shock over the tragic events" and was "working closely with law enforcement". Earlier, he spoke at a labour forum, telling the crowd the shooting shattered any illusion that gun reform will "come of its own accord" in the US. "We know that there's a lot of injury, a lot of suffering in El Paso right now," he said. Media captionAfter the Las Vegas attack in October 2017 the BBC looked at how US mass shootings are getting worse Other Democratic presidential candidates also responded to the shooting with calls for gun control. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker was among them, saying the US seems to be "accepting the idea that these [shootings] are going to be a regular occurrence". Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, however, said gun control would probably not have stopped the attack. He added that if a "crazy" gunman launched such an attack, there was no way that law enforcement officers could be there to stop it. "The best way is to be prepared to defend yourself," he told CBS News.DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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