El Paso suspect told officers 'I'm the shooter' and said he targeted Mexicans, police say

El Paso.
(Image credit: PAUL RATJE/AFP/Getty Images)

The suspect in the El Paso mass shooting confessed and told authorities he targeted Mexicans in the attack, police say.

In an arrest warrant affidavit reported on by The Associated Press on Friday, El Paso Detective Adrian Garcia said that 21-year-old Patrick Crusius told police officers that "I'm the shooter" after being stopped following the attack, which left 22 people dead and another 24 injured. Garcia also said in the affidavit that Crusius told detectives that he targeted Mexicans.

Authorities had previously believed Crusius to have written a racist manifesto prior to the shooting, in which he wrote about a "Hispanic invasion of Texas." The shooting is currently being treated as a domestic terrorism case.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.