Citizen Prevents Further Violence At El Paso Mall
Thanks to a citizen carrying a firearm, more havoc was avoided at a Texas mall last week. As police continue their investigation into the shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso on Wednesday, they have revealed that the 16-year-old suspect was stopped by a bystander who had a licensed firearm.
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In a statement released Friday, the El Paso Police Department revealed that the shooting erupted from a physical fight between two groups of mostly teenagers at around 5 p.m. that Wednesday.
The first group included a 17-year-old person, a 17-year-old Hispanic male, a 17-year-old Hispanic female, a 14-year-old Hispanic male, a 14-year-old Hispanic female and a 16-year-old Hispanic male.
The shooter, described as a Hispanic male too, belonged to the second group, which also consisted of a 15-year-old Hispanic male, a 17-year-old Hispanic male and a 20-year-old Hispanic male.
According to police, the 16-year-old pulled out a handgun and began to fire shots at the group. He allegedly shot three people, killing one and injuring the others. The teen who died is identified as 17-year-old Angeles Zaragoza from the first group, while the injured people were simply described as a 17-year-old Hispanic male and a 20-year-old Hispanic male.
Police say the injured 17-year-old was from the first group and sustained serious wounds. The 20-year-old was from the shooter’s group and had happened to get hit in the gunfire.
Per police report, the suspect pointed his gun toward the direction of bystanders after he shot the teenagers and attempted to flee the scene. This was when the licensed gun-holder, Emmanuel Duran, shot at him.
Police consider Duran, 32, a victim in the shooting.
Along with an off-duty El Paso police officer who had just arrived at the scene, he provided medical assistance to injured people, including the suspect. Police say he is in stable condition.
Sergeant Robert Gomez of the El Paso Police Department finds the incident disturbing. “It’s always concerning especially when a 16-year-old has a stolen handgun and fires a weapon inside a very crowded mall,” he said. “It’s very concerning, it’s very disturbing actually.”
Police say charges are pending against the suspect, even though they did not clarify what charges would be brought against him.
Wednesday’s incident is yet another case that proves that Americans are safer with the power to fight back against criminality. It invalidates gun control lobbyists’ claims that letting people carry guns encourages more shootings.
While nobody has denied that there will be more shootings, citizens aware of their second amendment rights understand that licensed gun carriers mean more self-defense shootings.
Police’s reveal that the El Paso Mall shooting suspect was carrying a stolen gun goes to prove gun rights advocates’ arguments that most criminal shootings are not perpetrated by licensed holders. On the contrary, more licensed gun holders would serve as a deterrent to criminals who will have to deal with the risk of being shot during the commission of a crime.