A mall shooting in El Paso, Texas last week ended with chaos and one civilian taking matters into his own hands.
According to police, 32-year-old Emanuel Duran shot and wounded the 16-year-old suspected shooter with his legally licensed gun.
The suspect had been with a group of young people at the mall’s food court when the group had a physical altercation with another group of teenagers there. Shots were fired and 17-year-old Angeles Zaragoza, a member of the other group, was killed.
The El Paso police Sergeant, Robert Gomez told KTSM that the firearm used by the 16-year-old suspect had been reported stolen, saying, “It’s always concerning especially when a 16-year-old has a stolen handgun and fires a weapon inside a very crowded mall.”
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Two other males, a 20-year-old and a 17-year-old, were also shot before the suspect fled.
“As the suspect ran towards Duran and bystanders, Duran drew his handgun and shot the suspect,” said police.
Thankfully, an off-duty police officer was on hand to help apprehend the suspect and provide medical aid. The suspect, who has not been named because he is a minor, is in stable condition, and charges against him are pending.
The others who were shot are also being treated at the hospital.
CNN pointed out that they didn’t qualify this as a mass shooting as, according to their definition, a mass shooting is “a shooting that killed or wounded four or more people, not including the shooter.”
The El Paso Times reported that while Duran was the only civilian who acted, there were at least two other people present at this disaster who were legally armed. Kudos to Duran for having the guts to act and keep more innocent bystanders from being shot.
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In NYS (where I’m from) the authorities would have said, “But the suspect was already fleeing so you didn’t need to shoot him”. “Why didn’t you just get out of his way”?
I live in Texas. When you say, “…with his legally licensed gun.”, what do you mean? Texas is a constitutional carry state.
Texas still issues Concealed Carry Permits so that its citizens can benefit from reciprocity when travelling in other right-minded states. Also, a lot of Texans have carry permits that were issued before constitutional carry became state law, so there are plenty of CHLs still out there.
I beleve you could face a legal trap while armed in school zones without any paper work.