Annapolis Mayor's Message To El Paso, Dayton After Mass Shootings

ANNAPOLIS, MD — "You will never be the same," Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley told the mayors of El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday after mass shootings in those cities this weekend claimed a total of 29 lives. Buckley speaks from experience, having helped Annapolis residents deal with the aftermath of the deaths of five Capital Gazette employees who were shot to death on June 28, 2018, in the newspaper office.

Early Sunday morning, a gunman dressed in body armor opened fire outside a Dayton bar, killing nine people and wounding 27 others. Police then shot the suspect — Connor Betts, 24, of Bellbrook, Ohio — to death. Police are still looking into possible motives.

The Dayton shooting came several hours after a gunman wielding an AK-47-style rifle opened fire on back-to-school shoppers in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. In that shooting, 20 people died and 26 more were hurt, officials said. Authorities are looking into whether that shooting was a hate crime.

A federal law enforcement official who spoke to Patch identified the Texas shooter as Patrick Crusius, 21, of Allen, Texas. Law enforcement officials are poring over a series of writings and online posts they believe were written by the suspect, including a manifesto attributed to the suspect. It stated, in part, "In general, I support the Christchurch shooter and his manifesto. This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas."

Mayor Buckley said in a statement that he and the city of Annapolis are heartbroken for the victims and their families.

"To the Mayors of El Paso and Dayton: your cities are strong and you will find love and community in places and ways you thought you’d never see. But I tell you from personal experience that you will never be the same. Your cities will never be the same," Buckley said.

He urged President Donald Trump to avoid name calling, such as the comments Trump aimed at Rep. Elijah Cummings and the city of Baltimore, and focus on helping communities.

In a tweet last weekend Trump called Baltimore a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess," urging the congressman to spend more time there than worrying about the nation's southern border. Cummings, who lives in Baltimore, called on the president to follow through with prescription drug regulation reform.

Then Baltimore Mayor Jack Young weighed in on the exchange, and he did not mince words. Young called it "completely unacceptable" for POTUS to say such negative things about the city.

Here is the rest of Buckley's statement:

"You have joined others like Pittsburgh, Charleston, Parkland, Aurora, Tallahassee, Chicago, Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, and Fort Hood, just to name a few. These are cities large and small, cities full of diversity, cities with stories of economic success and struggle, cities with residents who have love in their hearts, cities both unique and similar at once. One of the similarities is too many guns.

Earlier this week we saw the President attack the City of Baltimore with his Tweets. Our nation deserves a national leader who will help us address problems and not name call.

Mayors are the ones who are on the front lines of this unique brand of domestic terrorism. We see the survivors in our everyday interactions. Local jurisdictions are the ones who truly deal with the aftermath, but we are looking to national leaders to help develop prevention strategies.

Gun violence is too prevalent in American society. It is too prevalent as we have seen in these two mass shootings in less than 24 hours. It is too prevalent in everyday gun violence that plagues innocent people through urban violence, domestic violence and suicides.

Our deepest condolences for these losses."

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