© Reuters
(Reuters) – One person was killed and three wounded in a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas on Wednesday, police said.
“A suspect was in custody,”
A police spokesman, Robert Gomez, told reporters that one suspect was in custody, but media reported that a second person was taken into custody following the shooting at the Cielo Vista mall in Texas. The reason was unknown.
“It was chaotic. People ran away. They were scared. Like I said, there were shots in the mall. It causes panic,” Gomez said.
Police called it an active scene and asked the public to avoid the area.
News video showed the parking lot filling up with police cars, their lights on.
“Units are clearing the mall. They’re gathering witnesses. This is a big scene, since it is a shopping mall, so it will take time,” Gomez said, adding that he had no information on the condition of the injured.
The Cielo Vista shopping center is next door to the Walmart (NYSE:) store where a gunman killed 23 people on August 3, 2019. A week ago, a Texas man pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in that massacre. in a plea deal that saved him a federal death sentence. But he still faces the death penalty in a separate state proceeding.