Page 18 Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 7, 2019
A GUNMAN who killed 22 people at
a Walmart supermarket only tar-
geted it because he was ‘lost’ and
‘hungry’, police have revealed.
Patrick Crusius, 21, travelled
more than 650 miles to carry out
the attack in the border town of El
Paso, Texas, where 80 per cent of
residents are of Hispanic origin.
Police chief Greg Allen admitted:
‘As soon he got here, he was lost in
the neighbourhood. After that he
found his way to Walmart because
we understand he was hungry.’
In a hate-filled manifesto posted
online in the minutes before, the
far-Right fanatic spoke of a ‘His-
panic invasion’ and vowed to ‘lead
the fight to reclaim my country’.
Many claim Crusius’s scribblings
echo inflammatory language usedby Donald Trump to stoke racism
and anti-migrant sentiment in the
US. In recent days, local politicians
have told the President to stay
away from the city.
On Monday, former president
Barack Obama wrote: ‘We should
soundly reject language coming
out of the mouths... of our leaders
that feeds a climate of fear or
hatred or normalises racist senti-
ments.’ Such words ‘threaten our
way of life’, he warned and called
for ‘tougher’ gun laws.
Yesterday, Mr Trump tweeted he
was ‘the least racist person’ and
noted there were 32 mass shoot-
ings during Obama’s presidency.From Emily Kent Smith
in El Paso, TexasMass killer in El Paso
‘was lost and hungry’
after she failed to return hours later,
but the call rang out.
He reported her missing to the
police at around 12.40pm, just hours
before the couple were supposed to
fly home from their holiday.
Reports said Dr Christopher’s
phone was still on, which prompted
her worried sister to urge friends
not to call her to save battery.
Jena Christopher wrote on Face-
book: ‘If you have her phone number
please DO NOT call her. As this will
drain the battery and the police are
trying to use her phone to find
her location.’
Police were yesterday considering
turning off a phone tower on the
nearby island of Fourni to help them
pinpoint the location of Dr Christo-
pher’s phone.
The owner of the hotel where the
couple had been staying said police
had sealed off their room and thatof around 8,500, is known for its
rocky mountains, natural streams
and popular beaches.
It is a top tourist attraction for
visitors who sail over from the main-
land, and is also a popular destina-
tion for those keen on sports and
mountain activities.
Dr Christopher’s social media
shows she is a keen sportswoman,
pictured hiking, running and
kitted out in professional gear for
mountain races.A MAJOR search opera-
tion was under way last
night after a British scien-
tist went missing on a
Greek holiday island.
Astrophysicist Dr Natalie
Christopher, 35, failed to
return from a run on the morn-
ing she and her boyfriend were
due to fly back to their home
in Cyprus.
Police, firemen, the coast guard
and volunteers were all involved
in the search launched after the
Oxford-educated fitness fanatic
disappeared on the Aegean
island of Ikaria on Monday.
A Greek naval helicopter, fittedwith thermal imaging technology,
was also drafted in from a neigh-
bouring island.
Dr Christopher’s Cypriot boy-
friend, 38, said he woke up on
Monday morning to find she had
already gone out.
When he called her mobile, Dr
Christopher told him she was
jogging in a mountainous area
nearby. He phoned her againMail Foreign Service‘Boyfriend cannot
believe it’Dr Christopher’s boyfriend was
staying with him at his house.
‘He is a very good lad, he’s from
Cyprus. He’s lost it, he has pan-
icked, he cannot believe it,’ the
unnamed man told Greek media.
Dr Christopher, from London, is
involved in research at the Euro-
pean University Cyprus in Nicosia.
She researches ‘the evolution of
galaxies, by fitting models to data
collected from telescopes and satel-
lites’, an online profile states.
Dr Christopher said she hoped to
soon start formally teaching astron-
omy and visit schools across Cyprus
to inspire the next generation.
She also launched the Cyprus
Girls Can campaign to get women
of all ages and abilities involved in
sport. The initiative was shortlisted
for the EU Sport Award.
A Foreign Office spokesman said
yesterday: ‘We are assisting the fam-
ily of a British woman reported
missing in Ikaria and are in contact
with the Greek authorities who are
conducting the search for her.’
Ikaria is a picturesque island
named after Icarus, who in Greek
mythology flew close to the Sun.
The tiny island, with a populationSporty: Dr Natalie ChristopherBritish physicist goes
missing while out for a
jog on Greek holiday isle
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