News

El Paso shooting suspect on suicide watch

The suspect in the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, earlier this month has reportedly been placed on suicide watch.

Patrick Wood Crusius, 21, has been under close guard since Monday, when medical staff at the county jail recommended that he be more closely monitored, the El Paso Times reports. He was placed in a single jail cell and was separated from other inmates.

Crusius has been in custody since Aug. 3 and is being held without bond, the Times noted.{mosads}

The suspected gunman, who allegedly killed 22 people and wounded 26 others when he opened fire at a Walmart, was charged with capital murder on Aug. 4. Federal authorities are treating the shooting as a case of domestic terrorism and are seeking federal hate crime and firearm charges.

El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza has also said his office would seek the death penalty for Crusius, who is alleged to have written a white nationalist manifesto.

The suspect reportedly confessed to carrying out the attack when he surrendered to law enforcement, saying “I’m the shooter” and telling police he was targeting “Mexicans.”

Police said Crusius has been cooperating with authorities since his arrest. FBI officials said they have served three search warrants in the Dallas area, where the suspect lived.