Multiple people dead in shooting in El Paso, Texas, police say
Multiple people have been killed today in a shooting in El Paso, Texas, according to local police.
Authorities do not believe there is an ongoing threat, El Paso Police Sgt. Enrique Castillo told reporters.
Three suspects were in custody, El Paso Mayor Dee Margo told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Castillo previously said there was one person in custody.
At least 11 people have been transported to Del Sol Medical Center, according to hospital spokesman Victor Guerrero.
Multiple victims were earlier reported injured at a Walmart, according to CNN affiliate KTSM.
Police responded Saturday to an active shooter in the area of the Cielo Vista Mall, they tweeted.
"Scene is still active," police wrote at 1:03 p.m. ET, adding, "avoid the area" around Hawkins and Gateway East boulevards.
Police earlier said they received reports of multiple shooters and were "conducting (a) search of a very large area."
Agents from the FBI office in El Paso are responding to the incident, the office told CNN.
A second mall about 2.5 miles away from Cielo Vista is also on lockdown, according to an employee at a liquor store attached to the mall.
Authorities put the mall on lockdown because of the reported shooting at Cielo Vista, Frankie Nunez, an employee at Bassett WB Liquors & Wine, said.
And an employee at the Target store at Bassett Place also confirmed the mall had been placed on lockdown.
"You don't think it could happen here"
At least three businesses are on lockdown in the area, about three miles south of El Paso International Airport.
Three Walmart employees took refuge at a nearby Landry's Seafood house, restaurant manager Oscar Collazo told CNN. The women appeared "shook up" but not injured.
Landry's had already gone on lockdown, he said, but opened its doors when the employees ran there.
"We never thought it would be so close to us this time," Collazo said. "You see on the news all the time, but you don't think it could happen here until it does."
The nearby Hooters and Red Lobster are also on lockdown. Employees at those restaurants told CNN they are safe and see a lot of police, helicopters and people running around outside.
In a shaky Snapchat video aired by CNN, a woman holding the camera frantically runs with a small group of girls or women through a Cielo Vista mall department store and into a parking lot.
As the group hurries past racks of clothes and cases of merchandise, voices off camera shout, "Hands up!"
Once in the parking lot, one member of the group asks, "What happened?"
"I don't know," the woman holding the camera responds. "I don't know."
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting, and the White House is monitoring the situation, Deputy Press Secretary Steven Groves said in a statement.
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, who once represented the area in Congress, asked residents to follow the directions of first responders.
"Truly heartbreaking," O'Rourke said on Twitter. "Stay safe, El Paso."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that the state Department of Public Safety is assisting local law enforcement.
The scene is unfolding in the same week two employees were fatally shot at a Walmart store in Southaven, Mississippi, and three people were shot and killed at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California.
By Dakin Andone and Hollie Silverman, CNN via The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
The Gayly 8/3/2019 @ 2:46 p.m. CST.