EL PASO, Texas _ Hundreds of people stood in line for hours at El Paso blood banks after police issued an urgent plea for donations following a mass shooting at a Walmart.
Twenty people were killed and more than two dozen injured in the shooting Saturday at a Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall in east El Paso, according to police and government officials. Police said the suspect used a rifle.
At a blood bank 15 minutes from Cielo Vista Mall, about 200 people waited throughout the day to donate.
Yvonne Solis, the donor recruiter at the blood bank, said enough people donated blood Saturday to save up to 600 lives, and that was only at their building.
"People started coming in at about 11:30 (a.m.), and they didn't stop coming, and they haven't stopped coming," she said.
The blood bank was supposed to close at 3 p.m. but extended its hours into the night to accommodate the flood of donors.
The blood bank was having a drive at the Cielo Vista Mall when the shooting happened, Solis said. None of the donors or volunteers at the mall were hurt.
"You hear of things happening somewhere else, but you don't think it's going to happen to you in your community," she said. "Nobody is safe."
Solis, who was born in El Paso, said it was "unbelievably emotional" to see the community coming together, but not surprising based on how residents have donated when disasters happened in other cities and states.
Amanda Alvarez, who waited four hours to give blood, said her grandmother was shopping by herself at the retail center next to Cielo Vista when the shooting started. Her grandmother hid with other customers inside a warehouse for two hours.
Seeing the outpouring of support was a "beautiful experience," Alvarez said.
"Tomorrow is another day, and we're going to be stronger than ever," she added.
People also donated water and food to the blood bank. Pizza boxes were piled in the waiting room at 7 p.m., and 50 boxes of donated Girl Scout Cookies were stacked in an office.
Sunday's availability for donors was already booked by 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and the blood bank will stay open late again Sunday.
Inez Olivas, 20, and her mother, Margie Olivas, almost went to their usual movie theater at Cielo Vista on Saturday, but decided to go to a different theater instead.
"We wanted to help in any way we can, because we knew that that very much could have been us," Inez Olivas said. "I knew people would do this for us."
Victoria Lara, 32; Mark Gomez, 36; and Vanessa Chavez, 36, waited for five hours to donate blood. They are from El Paso.
"We've all wept our tears because we don't know them, but they're somebody's family. Someone is not going home to their family, and that moved us," Gomez said.
They said El Paso is a close-knit community where people look out for one another.
"Stuff like this doesn't happen in El Paso," Chavez said.
Janice Lucero, 30, agreed, saying the city was still in shock. She came immediately to the blood bank and saw it was already packed with people and supplies.
"You could feel that everybody is mourning but trying to do our best to help where we can," she said.
Multiple law enforcement sources say police have identified the suspect in Saturday's mass shooting in El Paso as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius.
Crusius is from North Texas, with his last known address listed in Allen, about 30 miles north of Dallas, according to public records. Crusius was in custody Saturday, law enforcement sources said.
