Patrick Wood Crusius

The shooting has been described as the deadliest anti-Latino attack in recent U.S. history, resulting in 23 deaths and 23 injuries. One victim died the day after the event, another victim died two days after, and a third died eight months later on April 26, 2020. Among the dead were thirteen Americans, eight Mexicans and one German. The names, ages, and citizenships of 22 of the dead were released by the El Paso Police Department on August 5. Seventeen were 56 or older, two were in their 40s, two in their 20s and one was 15.

Crusius waived his federal bond hearing on February 12, 2020 during his first federal court appearance.

On April 28, 2020, prosecutors announced they would be seeking a new capital murder charge following the recent death of a twenty-third victim in a hospital.

Members of the Democratic Party, including several 2020 presidential candidates, criticized Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric in the wake of the shooting, including O'Rourke, Cory Booker, Joe Biden, and congresswoman Escobar. Other 2020 candidates called for political action to eliminate gun violence, including Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang. The incident also caused many celebrities and media figures to debate gun rights within the United States, with some condemning the perceived inaction of many political figures in stopping the large number of mass shootings in the country. That same evening, Moms Demand Action, which had a meeting planned in Washington, DC, led a march and vigil outside the White House in support of gun control in the United States and the ban of assault weapons.

On August 3, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, United States. A gunman shot and killed 23 people and injured 23 others. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a possible hate crime. The shooting has been described as the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern American history.

Crusius was indicted on capital murder charges on September 12. He pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges at his arraignment on October 10, 2019 at the El Paso County Courthouse. On February 6, 2020, Crusius was charged with 90 federal charges: 22 counts of committing a hate crime resulting in death, 22 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder, 23 counts of a hate crime involving an attempt to kill and 23 counts of use of a firearm during a crime.

President Donald Trump condemned the shooting as hateful and cowardly later that day. He promised that his administration would provide "total support". In a later statement, Trump announced after the shootings in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio, that all US flags, both domestic and abroad, would be flown at half-staff until sunset on August 8. In a speech from the White House on August 5, Trump said: "In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America." On August 7, Trump said he was "concerned about the rise of any group of hate", whether it was "white supremacy, whether it’s any other kind of supremacy, whether it's antifa".

Within two days of the shooting, #WhiteSupremacistInChief reached the number one trend on Twitter as critics pointed out that statements in the suspect's alleged manifesto mirrored comments Trump had made in the past, including references to illegal immigration as an "invasion" and telling a group of minority congresswomen (all U.S. citizens) to "go back" to their home countries. Media outlets also highlighted an incident in May 2019 where an audience member at a campaign rally suggested shooting illegal migrants crossing the border, to which Trump responded with a joke, saying, "only in the Panhandle you can get away with that".

U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, who represents El Paso in Congress, brought a town hall meeting in the city to an early close following the shooting. Escobar later said there was also a hate epidemic, with domestic terrorism resulting from the dehumanization of others. Texas Senator Ted Cruz issued a written statement deploring "this unspeakable evil." Beto O’Rourke, a native of El Paso who represented the city in Congress from 2013 to 2019, said he was "incredibly saddened" but that "The [El Paso] community is going to stay together. Everyone's resolved to make sure this doesn't continue to happen in this country." Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the shooting "a heinous and senseless act of violence". Texas Senator John Cornyn said that gun violence would not be solved by focusing on law-abiding citizens. Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said violent video games were partly to blame.

The incident was mentioned by Pope Francis during a speech in St. Peter's Square on August 4, in which he condemned attacks on defenseless people and said he was spiritually close to the victims, the wounded, and the families affected by the attacks that had "bloodied Texas, California, and Ohio". The Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting happened in California around a week before the El Paso shooting, while the 2019 Dayton shooting occurred in Ohio less than 24 hours after.

Patrick Wood Crusius (born July 27, 1998) was arrested shortly after the shooting started, and was charged with capital murder. A 21-year-old white male, he was last known to have lived in his family's home in Allen, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, approximately 650 miles (1,050 km) from El Paso. He graduated in 2017 from Plano Senior High School, and was enrolled at Collin College from 2017 until spring 2019.