Feb. 16, 2023 Off-duty police officers working security at an El Paso mall quickly responded to a shooting that killed one man and wounded three others.
Source officer.com News
An off-duty Texas police is being credited with apprehending one of two suspects in connection with a mall shooting that left one man dead and three others wounded Wednesday.
The incident happened shortly after 5 p.m. at the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, CBS News report. Soon after shots were fired, off-duty police officers who had been working security at the mall were able quickly respond.
“We had off-duty officers working at the local establishment within the mall, and were on scene at 5:08 p.m., within three minutes,” interim El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas.
During the response, an off-duty officer located and arrested the suspect without discharging a weapon, according to Pacillas. It was unclear how the second suspect was apprehended.
Among the victims, one man was pronounced dead at the scene, and three others were rushed to hospitals. Two victims were in critical condition and a third was in fair condition.
“A great deal of credit needs to go out to the off-duty officer that was at the mall this evening, and was able to get one of these individuals in custody in a very quick amount of time,” said Jeffrey Downey, special agent for the FBI’s El Paso office, one of several agencies that responded to the shooting.
No details have been released about a motive in the shooting or how the incident transpired.