El Paso opens resource center to provide support, retrieve vehicles from shooting scene

El Paso opened a grief center on Tuesday to help people cope with last weekend’s mass shooting at a Walmart, in which 22 people, nearly all with Latino last names, were killed and many others were wounded.

The center opened a day before President Donald Trump was due to visit the border city, much to the chagrin of some Democrats and other residents who say his fiery rhetoric has fostered the kind of anti-immigrant hatred that may have motivated Saturday’s attack.

Within hours of the healing center opening Tuesday, victims’ families were already inside the El Paso Convention Center in a wing the size of a football field. It will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

El Paso officials announced visitors to the center can receive counseling, travel assistance and financial support — as well as claim automobiles left in the Walmart parking lot. Fire Chief Mario D’Agostino says anyone who needs to talk or who needs help moving forward from the tragedy is welcome.

“We’ve got to make sure that folks have access to mental health care. There’s going to be a lot of trauma in our community, a lot of children saw things that no human being should see,” said Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who is from El Paso. “The immediate need is that people get help navigating the various agencies and the various systems that are in place.”

George Cruz knows that well. He had taken in his gray Chevrolet Avalanche to get a new battery Saturday at the Sam’s Club next to Walmart. He got there an hour before the shooting started, and Tuesday he was trying to figure out how to get it back.

Since then, it had been part of a crime scene where police said up to 3,000 shoppers had gathered.

“I was at the office, watching a live feed from the scene. The truck is right there,” said Cruz, a real estate agent. “There’s people suffering from, you know, being shot, family grieving for lost ones. For me, it’s no big deal. I’m blessed.”

The FBI is moving all of the vehicles to an “undisclosed location,” and they’ll all get “background checks”.

In order to claim your vehicle, the FBI says you must bring a set of keys, identification, proof of ownership, and insurance to the center. If you can not come down in person to claim your vehicle, written permission must be provided if the person that comes down to the center is not the registered owner, the FBI said in a statement.