EL PASO, Texas — The man accused of killing 23 people and injuring nearly two dozen others in a shooting at a Texas Walmart in 2019 plans to plead guilty to federal charges, court records show.
Authorities arrested Patrick Crusius after investigators said he shot dozens of people at a Walmart Supercenter in El Paso on Aug. 3, 2019, killing 22. A 23rd person shot at the store died in April 2020, officials said.
He faces state charges alongside nearly 100 federal charges, including 23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.
Attorneys for Crusius said in a motion filed Saturday in court that their client plans to plead guilty to the federal charges filed against him. The motion came days after prosecutors said in a notice that they did not plan to seek the death penalty in the case.
Authorities said Crusius targeted Latinos during the 2019 shooting, pointing to a screed he allegedly published online before gunshots were fired.
“This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas,” the rant, titled “The Inconvenient Truth,” began, according to investigators. “They are the instigators, not me. I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by the invasion.”
Police said Crusius surrendered and confessed to opening fire at the Walmart after he was stopped in a car a short distance from the scene of the attack. The shooting victims ranged in age from 15 to 90 years old.
©2023 Cox Media Group
