One person has been shot dead and three more were wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas.
According to El Paso police, hours after the gunfire two people had been taken into custody, though details of what led the shooting remained unclear.
This shooting has added to the dozens of people already killed this year in mass shootings across the United States.
Interim police chief Peter Pacillas said that Cielo Vista Mall was still considered a crime scene, and that it would remain locked down until authorities had completed their investigation.
The shooting happened in a busy shopping area and across a large parking lot from a Walmart where 23 people were killed in a racist attack in 2019.
So far in 2023, dozens of people have been killed in mass shootings in the United States, most recently Monday at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and five others were injured.
In January, 11 people were killed in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park while celebrating the Lunar New Year at a popular dance hall for older Asian Americans.
Pacillas stated that the two people detained following Wednesday’s shooting, as well as all of the victims, were men.
Two gunshot victims being treated at El Paso’s University Medical Center were in critical condition, according to a statement.
The third victim’s condition was not immediately known.
Police had previously stated that the shooting occurred in the food court of the shopping mall.
Authorities established a reunification center at a nearby high school so that those affected by the shooting could reunite with family members.
