A MASS shooting Saturday killed at least 20 and injured 26 others in the U.S. state of Texas, according to local officials.

In a separate case, the second mass shooting in the United States within 24 hours, a mass shooting early yesterday morning in the city of Dayton, Ohio, killed nine people and injured at least 16 others, local police said. The shooter is deceased.

The suspect in the first case, now in custody, was identified as Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old white male from Texas, according to Texas Police Chief Greg Allen. The shooting has a “nexus to a hate crime,” said Allen. Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation cautioned that more investigative work is needed to determine the nature of the crime.

Allen said Texas will lead the prosecution of the suspect, adding that the state is currently looking at potential capital murder charges.

Police identified a Walmart shopping mall, about 13 km east of downtown El Paso, as one of the active scenes.

The store was packed with as many as 3,000 people caused by a busy back-to-school shopping season when the shooting began.

Law enforcement officials are studying an anti-immigrant manifesto to determine whether it was written by the suspect.

El Paso, situated at the U.S.-Mexico border, has a population of 680,000, of which 83 percent are of Hispanic descent, according to 2018 Census estimates.

In recent months El Paso has become one of the busiest entry points for immigrants, especially from Central America.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Twitter that three Mexicans were among those killed and at least six of the wounded were Mexican citizens.

On Twitter, U.S. President Donald Trump called the shooting “an act of cowardice.”

(Xinhua)