Mother of El Paso shooter warned the police about her son owning a gun

Weeks before the shooting, the woman called the police to express her concerns over her son owning an AK type weapon while lacking safety training and emotional maturity, CNN reported.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Flowers are seen at the site of a mass shooting where 20 people lost their lives at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019 (photo credit: REUTERS/JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ)
Flowers are seen at the site of a mass shooting where 20 people lost their lives at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019
(photo credit: REUTERS/JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ)
A few weeks before the El Paso shooting, the mother of the shooter called the police to express her concerns over her son owning an AK type weapon while lacking safety training and emotional and intellectual maturity, CNN reported on Friday.
 
Allen Police Sgt. Jon Felty confirmed to CNN that the call was transferred to a public safety officer, who inquired whether the suspect had expressed suicidal intentions or threats to others. The woman's response was negative.
The police response to the call was that the suspect, identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius from Allen, Texas, was legally allowed to purchase the gun.
 
Crusius' mother did not provide her name or her son's name and the police did not ask for further details, according to the family lawyers Chris Ayres and R. Jack Ayres.
 
"This was not a volatile, explosive, erratic behaving kid," Chris Ayres told CNN. "It's not like alarm bells were going off."
 
The report added that it was not clear whether the weapon discussed in the call was the same used to kill 22 people in a mall in El Paso on Saturday. The suspect, who surrendered to police, has been charged with capital murder.

Stay updated with the latest news!

Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter

Subscribe Now
 
A racist, anti-immigrant manifesto believed by authorities to have been written by the suspect was posted online shortly before the attack, which the author called a "response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas."
 
Reuters contributed to this report.
 
 
 
 


Related Tags
texas
El Paso