Sunday, 19 May 2024

Teenager, teacher from Mexico among 20 killed in El Paso Walmart massacre

A 15-year-old boy and a teacher from Mexico were identified by relatives on Sunday as two of the 20 people killed in the El Paso Walmart shooting.

Javier Rodriguez was just weeks away from starting his sophomore year at Horizon High School in El Paso, when he was shot dead on Saturday, his aunt, Elvira Rodriguez, told The El Paso Times.

“He was such a loving boy,” Elvira Rodriguez said in Spanish, weeping.

The devastated aunt said she and her family couldn’t find Javier in the aftermath of the shooting and looked for him at reunification centers, without luck.

Early Sunday afternoon, authorities told the family that Javier, a good student who loved to play soccer, was among the dead, Rodriguez said.

A Clint Independent School District spokeswoman confirmed Javier was a student and said the school was planning a vigil for Monday.

Relatives were also mourning mom-of-two Elsa Mendoza Marquez, 57, from Juarez, Mexico who was visiting family in El Paso when she stopped at the Cielo Vista Walmart to make a quick purchase, a Spanish-language report said.

Her husband and son were with her but stayed in the car, the report said. Minutes after Marquez walked into the store, they heard shots, screams and saw people running for their lives.

“I bid farewell to my companion, the most marvelous of women, a person full of light who will continue illuminating our way for the rest of our lives,” her husband wrote in a Facebook post, according to The Los Angeles Times. “We are going to miss you, love.”

Marquez was one of the six Mexican citizens killed in the massacre, according to Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who tweeted out the names of those who died.

Others include, Ivan Filiberto Manzano, Jorge Calvillo García, Gloria Irma Márquez, as well as couple Sara Esther Regalado, 66, and Cerros Hernández, 68, who were in El Paso shopping for the day when they were shot dead.

Also killed were El Paso native Andre Anchondo, 24, and his wife, 25-year-old wife Jordan Anchondo, who was hit while shielding their 2-month-old son from gunfire.

Arturo Benavides, a 67-year-old Army veteran who was at self-checkout when the shooting started was also among the victims.

His wife, Patty Benavides, was sitting nearby but they got separated in the chaos, The Dallas Morning News reported. The couple went to the Walmart after church every Sunday, but decided to go Saturday this week instead, a cousin said.

Police by late Sunday afternoon said they had removed all bodies from the Walmart and its parking lot.

A police spokesman said Sunday night they “will provide an list of the deceased once all next of kin have been notified.”

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