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Twenty people were killed and 26 injured during a shootout at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas.
Governor Greg Abbott described it as "one of the deadliest days in Texas history."
The police are investigating whether the attack, which occurred a few kilometers from the US-Mexico border, was a hate crime.
A 21 year old man is in custody. Police said the suspect was living in Allen, Dallas, about 1,046 km east of El Paso.
He was named by the American media under the name of Patrick Crusius.
CCTV footage believed to come from the shooter and broadcast in the US media show a man dressed in a dark t-shirt wearing ear protectors and wielding an badault rifle.
The shooting in Texas is thought to be the eighth deadliest in modern American history.
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This occurred less than 24 hours before another mbad shot in Dayton, Ohio, and less than a week after an armed teenager killed three people at the same time. 39, a Californian culinary festival.
The police and the FBI are investigating whether an unnamed blank "nationalist" manifesto, shared on an online forum, was written by the shooter. The document states that the attack targeted the local Hispanic community.
The Walmart, located near the Cielo Vista shopping mall, was filled with shoppers buying back-to-school supplies at the time of the shooting.
US President Donald Trump called the attack "cowardice."
"I know that I stand with everyone in this country to condemn the heinous act committed today, no reason or excuse will ever justify killing innocent people," he wrote. on Twitter.
The victims have not yet been named, but the president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said three Mexicans were among the dead, according to the Reuters news agency.
"As a state, we come together to support these victims and their families," said Abbott.
"We must do one thing today, one thing tomorrow and every day after that: we must unite."
What happened?
El Paso police chief, Greg Allen, said information about an active shooter would have been received at 10:39 am local time (1639 GMT), and that law enforcement officers would be on the scene in the six minutes.
Aged 21, he is the only suspect in police custody and the police claim that no officer fired with a firearm during his arrest.
Allen said the age of the victims was "many", describing the situation as "horrible".
The El Paso Police Department had previously tweeted that donations of blood were "urgently needed".
Kianna Long said that she was at Walmart with her husband when they heard gunshots.
"People panicked and ran around saying there was a gunman," Long told Reuters. "They ran near the ground, people dropped to the ground."
Ms. Long stated that she and her husband had traveled on a reserve before going to the shelter with other clients.
Another witness, Glendon Oakly, told CNN that he was at a sporting goods store in the nearby mall when a child ran inside "telling us that there is an active shooter at Walmart ".
Mr. Oakly said that no one took the child's request seriously, but that a few minutes later he had heard two shots.
"I just thought about getting the kids away," he said.
What was the broader reaction?
The latest mbad fire sparked a wave of sympathy, but also new appeals for gun control.
Walmart tweeted that he was "shocked by the tragic events" and "worked closely with the forces of order".
The Texas attack is the second deadly shot to take place at a Walmart store this week, after a former company employee on Tuesday killed two former coworkers at a Mississippi branch.
Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, said on Instagram, "I can not believe that I'm sending a note like this twice in a week." My heart is painful for the El Paso community. "
The Democratic presidential candidate, Beto O. Rourke, has abandoned a campaign event in Las Vegas to return to his hometown.
Previously, he had spoken at a union forum to tell the crowd that the shooting had ended any idea that gun reform "would come on its own" in the United States.
"We know that there is a lot of injury and suffering in El Paso right now," he said.
Other Democratic presidential candidates have also responded with calls for gun control.
The New Jersey senator, Cory Booker, was among them, saying that the United States seemed to "accept the idea that these [shootings] are going to be a regular occurrence. "
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, however, said that gun control would probably not have ended the attack.
He added that if a "crazy" armed man launched such an attack, there would be no way for law enforcement officers to be there to arrest him.
"The best way is to be ready to defend yourself," he told CBS News.
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