Two mass shootings in the United States have left 29 people dead within 24 hours, the latest such attacks in a nation torn over how to tackle gun violence.
A gunman armed with an assault rifle killed 20 people Saturday when he opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store in El Paso, Texas.
Less than 13 hours later, a lone shooter killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio early Sunday before being shot dead by responding police officers.
“We have nine victims deceased… and we have approximately 16 more victims hospitalized right now in unknown conditions,” Dayton Police Lieutenant Colonel Matt Carper said.
The attacker opened fire around 1:00 am Sunday (0500 GMT) on a street in the popular bar and nightlife Oregon district.
Police were working to identify the shooter and the FBI were on the scene.
“Fortunately we had multiple officers in the immediate vicinity when this incident started so there was a very short timeline of violence, for that we’ve very fortunate,” he said, praising the swift response by officers.
“As bad as this is, it could have been much, much worse.”
Carper said the investigation would continue through the night but the attack appeared to be the work of a lone shooter.
The incident came just hours after the mass shooting at a Walmart store in Texas which has reignited debate about the US “epidemic” of gun violence.
President Donald Trump described the El Paso attack as “an act of cowardice” and police are treating it as a possible hate crime.
One suspect was taken into custody while authorities were studying an extremist manifesto purportedly written by the gunman.
Footage shot with cellphones appeared to show multiple bodies lying on the ground in the store’s parking lot while other footage showed terrified shoppers running out of the store as
gunfire echoed.
Police chief Greg Allen confirmed that in addition to the 20 confirmed fatalities in El Paso, there were 26 wounded.
