Hate crime charges are possible for El Paso shooting suspect | CNN

Mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso within 13 hours

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Law enforcement agencies respond to an active shooter at a Wal-Mart near Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. - Police said there may be more than one suspect involved in an active shooter situation Saturday in El Paso, Texas. City police said on Twitter they had received "multi reports of multipe shooters." There was no immediate word on casualties. (Photo by Joel Angel JUAREZ / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOEL ANGEL JUAREZ/AFP/Getty Images)

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Cristina Zapata, 35, second from left, is comforted by her children David Burgos, 4, left, Lucy Burgos, 7, second from right, and Mariana Burgos, 3, right, as they pay their respects to the victims of the El Paso shooting at a memorial in a lot across from the Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019.

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The man suspected of killing 20 people and injuring 26 others in El Paso on Saturday may face hate crime charges in addition to capital murder charges, officials said.

Police say a racist, anti-immigrant document they believe was written by the 21-year-old white male suspect has a “nexus to a potential hate crime.”

The four-page document posted online espouses white nationalist and racist views. It rails against immigrants and Hispanics, blaming immigrants and first-generation Americans for taking away jobs and for the blending of cultures in the US.

Federal authorities are treating the shooting as a case of domestic terrorism because the shooting “appears to be designed to intimidate a civilian population, to say the least,” according to the US Attorney for the Western District of Texas, John Bash.

“We’re going to do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is to deliver swift and certain justice,” Bash said.

El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza said the suspect faces capital murder charges and that his office will seek the death penalty.

FBI El Paso Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie said more investigation is needed before determining that the mass shooting was a hate crime.

“Right now, it is a murder investigation,” Buie said. “There is potential for a number of different other violations, and we’re reviewing all the evidence to make a determination as to what potentially else is out there, in addition to the violations that have been stated that the local authorities are pursuing.”

The suspect has been identified as Patrick Crusius of Allen, a suburb of Dallas, three sources told CNN. The suspect surrendered to police “without incident,” police spokesman Sgt. Robert Gomez told reporters.