Little information released by authorities 2 months after El Paso mass shooting: Here’s why
Thursday marks two months since the Walmart shooting that left 22 people dead and more than two dozen wounded in El Paso, and still no word from the El Paso Police Department about its emergency response and what happened.
KVIA-TV is still waiting for law enforcement to fulfill a number of public records requests the station filed under the Texas Public Information Act seeking information on behalf of our viewers.
Those requested records included incident reports, 911 calls, police dash camera video, and police body camera video.
The Texas Department of Public Safety did send KVIA five pages of a 28-page report, which was heavily redacted, meaning parts were blacked out so the public could not read them. It did include some limited details already reported, including the names of the officers’ involved, and the charges against the accused shooter Patrick Crusius.
Reached by email, Department of Public Safety lawyer Brian Sears said, the investigation is open and active.” He said only basic information has been released. He said the department “sought an AG ruling to withhold the rest.”
As previously reported, Crusius, 21, of Allen, Texas, has been indicted on a Capital Murder charge in the death of the 22 people, who ranged in age from 15 to 90. His arraignment date is set for October 9 in the 409 th District Court. He is currently being held in the Downtown Jail.
A viewer captured cell phone video of Crusius as he surrendered to police on August 3, not too far from the scene at the Cielo Vista Walmart. According to court documents, Crusius was stopped at an intersection off of Viscount and Sunmount.
Court records show Texas DPS Rangers were responding to the shooting, in unmarked vehicles, when they noticed Crusius’ vehicle.
“Agents and police officers at the intersection then observed a male person (defendant) to exit out of the vehicle with his hands raised in the air and stated out loud to the agents “I’m the shooter,” court documents say.
ABC-7 requested any and all video of this public traffic stop on city streets. DPS has already responded to our request, saying ‘it conducted a good faith search for any and all information related to your (our) request and has not been able to locate any responsive records.’
KVIA routinely receives police reports from the El Paso Police Department within a couple days, however, that was not the case this time.
El Paso City Attorney Karla Nieman told ABC-7 the City released the *basic* police report, with redactions, along with a signed complaint and arrest record. Nieman said the department believes it is trying to protect, what she called, “the integrity of the investigation.”
KVIA is not alone. DPS said USA Today, the Associated Press and the Austin American-Statesman and a local law firm are among those also seeking public records.
Local residents also say they are interested in what happened two months ago.
In a recent letter to the editor to the El Paso Times, Lower Valley resident James Weaver said, in part: he found it curious that “our police department is yet to release its report, so all we can do is speculate about what happened inside the store.” Weaver also said: “within a week of the Dayton, Ohio, shooting their police department released a complete report, including videos and a detailed time line. We need to have more transparency.”
ABC-7 has appealed to the Attorney General asking that the relevant information be released to the El Paso community now.
We will update you as we get the public information.
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