August 5, 2019

Andrew Campbell 

On the morning of August 3, a young gunman, later identified by authorities as 21-years-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, opened fire with an AK-47-style assault rifle at the El Paso Walmart store near the Cielo Vista Mall, packed with more than 3,000 shoppers for the back-to-school season. The suspect was arrested at the scene leaving 20 dead and 26 heavily injured. Authorities are investigating whether the suspect’s motive is related to a hate crime against immigrants.

Less than 12 hours later, a gunman who wore a bulletproof vest, mask, and hearing protection opened fire with an assault rifle at a large crowd at Ned Peppers, a fun place in the popular restaurants and bars district in downtown Dayton, Ohio. In the early morning shooting 9 people were killed including the shooter's sister and 27 injured. The suspected shooter, later identified as Connor Betts aged 24 from Bellbrook, was shot and killed by patrolling officers in the Oregon District within 30 seconds of engaging fires. The motive in this crime remained unclear since local and federal law enforcement authorities have not released any evidence yet.

It has been a bloody August weekend in the US history with two mass shootings that occurred 13 hours apart in Texas and Ohio and left 29 people dead. With condolences to all, US President Donald Trump told reporters on August 4 of his administration's work on the issue and commented on gun violence: "We've done actually a lot, but perhaps more has to be done."

Photo:Webshot.