Arturo Benavides, 60, has been identified as one of the 20 people killed in Saturday’s shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas
An Army veteran and a hero mother have been identified as two of the 20 victims of Saturday’s shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
Arturo Benavides, 60, was shot when alleged gunman Patrick Crusius opened fire on the store in what authorities are calling an act of domestic terrorism.
Benavides had been shopping with his wife when gunfire erupted. She managed to escape, but her husband did not.
Several family members posted to social media over Saturday and Sunday looking for information about the man they knew as ‘Turi’. They were heartbroken to learn that he was among the victims.
Benavides’ niece, Jacklin Luna, described her uncle as ‘a strong-willed, caring, giving, and special person’ who well known in the community in the years he spent as a Sun Metro bus driver.
‘He was the person to always give a helping hand, a home to stay, and a meal,’ Luna told Buzzfeed of her uncle on Sunday.
‘He loved each and every one of us in our own ways. Loved oldies on a Sunday morning, sitting out on his chair in the front porch with his dog Milo at his feet.’
Benavides’ niece, Jacklin Luna (above together), described her uncle as ‘a strong-willed, caring, giving, and special person’ who well known in the community in the years he spent as a Sun Metro bus driver
Jordan Anchondo, 25, was shot dead while shielding her two-month-old son (above together) from gunfire during the massacre
Anchondo’s heartbroken sister Leta Jamrowski revealed she was among the 20 people killed. The 25-year-old victim is seen left and right in photos posted to social media
Jamrowski said she fears her brother-in-law Andre Anchondo (right) was also among the dead because she hasn’t heard from him since the attack
Another victim, 25-year-old Jordan Anchondo, was shopping for back-to-school supplies with her two-month-old son when she was shot dead trying to shield him from bullets.
Anchondo’s heartbroken sister Leta Jamrowski said the mother-of-three fell on top of the infant as she was shot. The boy suffered broken bones and is being treated in a hospital.
‘From the baby’s injuries, they said that more than likely my sister was trying to shield him,’ Jamrowski, 19, told the Associated Press.
‘So when she got shot she was holding him and she fell on him, so that’s why he broke some of his bones.
‘He pretty much lived because she gave her life.’
Jamrowski said she fears her brother-in-law Andre Anchondo, who is Hispanic, was also among the dead because she hasn’t heard from him since the attack.
According to their Facebook profiles, Andre and Jordan live in El Paso and had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary last week.
In addition to their two-month-old son, the couple also share two daughters.
Jordan and Andre Anchondo are seen in a wedding photo from a year ago
Jordan Anchondo is pictured with her two daughters last December
Andre Anchondo (above with his two daughters) is still missing as of Sunday afternoon
The FBI on Sunday identified Crusius as the shooter who targeted the super-store at the Cielo Vista Mall, a popular shopping destination for people both sides of the US-Mexico border.
Less than 20 minutes before the shooting, Crusius allegedly uploaded a twisted and seething anti-immigrant manifesto to an online forum outlining his sickening motives and revealing that he intended to target Hispanics.
At least 20 people were killed and 26 more were injured before Crusius was arrested.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that three Mexican nationals were killed and six others were injured, including Mario de Alba Montes, 45, Olivia Mariscal Rodriguez, 44, and 10-year-old Erika de Alba Mariscal.
Surveillance video shows a man believed to be Crusius walking in through the front entrance of the Cielo Vista Mall Walmart with an AK47-styled assault rifle.
The gunman, wearing what appears to be ear defenders and cargo pants, first opened fire in the parking lot outside the store, shooting and killing ‘locals that were fundraising outside the Walmart selling water. Children and adults.’
He then walked through the front door in a calm and confident state, as if he was ‘on a mission’, a witness said.
The twenty-minute massacre that followed would go on to become the eighth deadliest in US history.
Patrick Crusius allegedly confessed to opening fire on a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday afternoon, killing 20 people and injuring 26 more. The 21-year-old from Allen, a Dallas suburb, has been described by those who knew him as a short-tempered ‘loner’ with long-held animosity toward Mexican immigrants. The suspect is seen left in a driver’s license photo and right in the back of a police cruiser after his arrest
Surveillance footage shows the shooter entering the Walmart wielding an AK-47 assault rifle