WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A
mass shootings in america
BY WASHINGTON POST STAFFThe mass shooting in El Paso
left 22 dead, with victims ranging
in age from 15 to 90. On Tuesday,
The Washington Post published
portraits of 10 of their lives. Here
are the rest.
Jorge Calvillo García, 61
Jorge Calvillo García was a fam-
ily man. He went to Walmart on
Saturday because his granddaugh-
ter Emily was outside the store to
raise money for her soccer team.
Calvillo was going to bring food
and water for the collection event.
Calvillo’s life spanned the bor-
der. He had spent years in Ciudad
Juarez, according to the Mexican
newspaper Vanguardia. Recently,
he moved to El Paso, where he was
working as an accountant. But he
still visited Mexico frequently —
most recently for a niece’s w edding
in La Laguna, Durango.
“A week ago he was with us. It
was the most important day of our
lives, and he was supporting us at
all times. He l eft a beautiful human
being, an excellent dad, uncle, hus-
band and brother. It’s not goodbye
here, but see you soon,” wrote his
sister Elizabeth Calvillo on Face-
book.
When gunfire erupted at Wal-
mart, Calvillo shielded his grand-
daughter, said a nephew, Raul Or-
tega, according to KFOX-TV.
A son who was with him at
Walmart, Ever Calvillo Quiroga,
has had four surgeries and re-
mains in critical condition, accord-
ing to Vanguardia.
Calvillo had three children:
Ever, Jorge and Alberto.
“He always dedicated himself to
his family and his work,” s aid Juan
Martín, a cousin.
Martín said Calvillo will cross
the border one more time, as his
ashes are taken from El Paso to
Juarez.
— Kevin Sieff
and Gabriela Martinez
Leo Campos, 41,
and Maribel Hernandez, 56
Maribel Hernandez, an El Paso
native, had a happy childhood,
relatives said. Her marriage to
Leo Campos 16 years ago made
her only happier.
The couple led a simple life,
said her younger brother Albert
Hernandez. Campos worked in a
call center during the day while
Hernandez took care of the
house.
For several years, Campos at-
tended classes at a local school —
training to get certified as an
elementary school sports coach —
and his wife would help him with
his essays late into the night,
Albert Hernandez said.
On her birthday, or sometimes
for no reason at all, Campos
would romance her with long
letters and large bouquets of
flowers. When they could spare
the time, they traveled to South
Padre Island on the Gulf Coast.
Hernandez loved the beach, her
brother said.
On Saturday, after dropping
their dog off at t he groomers, they
went to the El Paso Walmart.
There, they were slain.
“It’s very surreal,” Albert Her-
nandez said. “These were good
people that suffered.”
Campos had grown up in Hi-
dalgo County in the Rio Grande
Valley. Friends and educators
who knew him in high school
recalled him as a loving family
man, gregarious football and soc-
cer player and fantastic Mexican
folkloric dancer.
Campos danced with a troupe
that performed in parks, schools
and nursing homes. A former
teacher, Alicia L. Cron, wrote:
“Rest in Peace my Folkloric Danc-
er while you dance in the heavens.
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!”
— Rebecca Tan
and Morgan KrakowAngelina Englisbee, 86
Angelina Englisbee, matriarch
of a large family, spent most of her
life on a quiet street in El Paso
that was less than a 10-minute
drive from the Walmart, neigh-
bors said.
Christina Bustamante, who
lived across from the 86-year-old
for more than 50 years, said she
was a quiet, respectful neighbor.
She went to nearby St. Pius X
Church every Sunday and led a
peaceful life, Bustamante said.
Englisbee was in Walmart and
on the phone with one of her
children minutes before the shoot-
ing began, according to CNN.
Larry Walters, a former in-law of
Englisbee, described her as a
strong person. After her husband
died of a heart attack, she raised
her seven children on her own,
Walters said.
— Rebecca TanRaul Flores, 83,
and Maria Flores, 77
In the 60 years they were mar-ried, Raul Flores and Maria Flores
rarely spent a day apart.
They met in the Mexican city of
Ciudad Juarez as young adults,
raised their family around the hills
of California’s San Gabriel Valley.
To gether, in 1959, they weathered
the death of their 2-week-old
daughter, Alejandra, to pneumo-
nia. To gether, they retired two dec-
ades ago to a large, brightly lit
house in El Paso. To gether, they
cooked tamales and brought spin-
dly plants back to life. They c radled
and nursed three children, 11
grandchildren and 10 great-grand-
children — and were waiting for
one on the way.
The only comfort their relatives
take in the couple’s death was that,
in the end, Raul Flores and Maria
Flores were not separated.
“They didn’t deserve to go this
way, but for me, I take comfort in
knowing that they went together,”
said Raul Flores Jr., the couple’s
oldest son.
Flores Sr. was scheduled to have
open-heart surgery Monday. Mem-
bers of the Flores family, who were
split between Te xas and California,
had come to El Paso to be with him.
On the day of the shooting, the
couple was at Walmart buying air
mattresses for visiting relatives,
said Flores Jr.
“I tell myself, maybe it’s the
Lord’s w ay o f doing it,” t he 55-year-
old said, his voice cracking. “May-
be He k new my f ather wasn’t g oing
to make it during the surgery, and
maybe He knew that if anything
happened to my father, my mother
would be destroyed. Maybe that’s
why He decided to take them to-
gether.”
Flores Sr. worked as a painter
most of his life. He had a strong
work ethic and, even in retirement,
would occasionally take on paint-ing jobs.
Leticia Saldana, 57, said her fa-
ther worked to make sure he could
take care of Maria, “his queen.”
Flores Sr. was sweeping floors at
a tailor shop in 1950s Ciudad Juar-
ez when he first saw Maria walk by,
Saldana said. The soft-spoken
young man would bring his broom
near Maria to catch her attention,
until one day, she was “swept off
her feet,” S aldana said, laughing in
between tears.
After they got married, Flores
Sr. pampered Maria. He bought
her shoes, clothes and bags that
filled three closets, leaving just a
little corner for his own items. And
in return, Maria — Grandma
Flores, as she was known — doted
on the rest of the family.
Maria loved to cook and had a
knack for knowing exactly what
everybody in her family loved to
eat. Grandchildren who called
ahead to say they were visiting
would often arrive to find plates of
their favorite dishes waiting while
Maria prepared dessert, dancing
to Elvis Presley or Marco Antonio
Solis as she baked.
“They were so much alike, my
parents,” Saldana said. “They were
inseparable.
“My whole life, that was my g oal,
to have a marriage, a love like that.”
— Rebecca TanAlexander Hoffman, 66
Alexander Gerhard Hoffman
was identified by El Paso authori-
ties as a German national. Ger-
many’s consulate in Washington
confirmed his citizenship but
gave no further details.
— Rebecca TanLuis Juarez, 90
At 90 years old, Luis Juarez had
lived the American Dream.He immigrated to the United
States, became a citizen, bought a
home and made a career as an
ironworker, according to a family
statement. He and his wife of 70
years, Martha, raised a family that
included seven children, 20 grand-
children, 35 great-grandchildren
and eight great-great-grandchil-
dren.
Before retiring, Juarez had
helped erect many buildings in El
Paso and Los Angeles, his family
said. He also worked on the coun-
try’s railroads and locomotives.
“We are celebrating the life of an
American who served to build our
country,” the family said.
The El Paso couple was at Wal-
mart on Saturday. Martha Juarez,
87, was recovering Tuesday after-
noon from injuries.
Luis Juarez’s family remem-
bered him as generous, under-
standing, hard-working and curi-
ous. He never stopped building —
even continuing many welding
projects after he retired — and the
family said they expected him to
live to 100.
“We were looking forward to
many more years, and that was
stolen away from us,” the family
said.
— Laurel DemkovichGloria Irma Márquez, 61
Gloria Irma Márquez was born
in the Mexican state of Sinaloa and
moved to the United States more
than two decades ago. Her first
two children were born in Mexico,
her second two in the United
States.
“The kids were everything to
her,” s aid John Ogaz, her compan-
ion of 11 years. “She was very
protective of the people she loved.”
When Ogaz met Márquez, he
was living in a trailer. Márquez,who earned a modest income as a
health-care assistant for elderly
patients, helped him move into a
home. He w as a U.S. citizen born in
El Paso, but Márquez, a recent
immigrant, helped him carve out a
comfortable life in America. They
considered each other husband
and wife, he said, although they
never formally married.
They lived together in El Paso,
surrounded by children and
grandchildren.
On Saturday, Ogaz and
Márquez went to Walmart. They
split up minutes before the shoot-
er entered the building, with her
heading to the ATM and him wait-
ing for her at McDonald’s. For five
hours, he called her phone from
the parking lot.
Through the years Márquez’s
family remained close, even
though immigration laws often
kept them physically apart. One of
her daughters was unable to cross
into the United States to visit her
mother. She was recently granted
a visa to attend Márquez’s funeral.
— Kevin Sieff
and Gabriela MartinezMargie Reckard, 63
Margie Reckard was mourned
as a devoted companion and
mother.
“I’ve been lost. I’m like a puppy
run away from its momma. She
took care of me,” Tony Basco, her
partner of 22 years, told Reuters
as he planted a cross for her at a
makeshift memorial that
emerged at the El Paso Walmart.
A son, Dean Reckard, said on
Facebook he was raising money to
come to El Paso to lay his mother
to rest.
San Antonio In-Home Health
Care said on Facebook that Reck-
ard was “one of our own” a nd “will
always be loved and missed.”
— Laurel DemkovichTeresa Sanchez, 82
Te resa Sanchez was identified
as a Mexican national. No further
information was immediately
available.Juan de Dios Velázquez, 77
Juan de Dios Velázquez, a Mexi-
can retiree, was fatally wounded
while protecting his wife, Estela,
from the shooter in the Walmart
massacre, according to relatives.
The couple had moved from
Ciudad Juarez to El Paso six
months ago, after they received
U.S. citizenship, family members
told Mexican media.
On Saturday, the couple were
grocery shopping when the gun-
man opened fire. Velázquez’s first
thought was for his wife, relatives
said. “I’ve been told that, when he
realized that the man was going to
attack them, my uncle moved in
front of her, to protect her,” Ve-
lázquez’s niece Norma Ramos told
the daily La Jornada.
Velázquez was shot in the back
and taken to a hospital, where he
underwent three operations, Ra-
mos said. He died Monday. His
65-year-old wife was shot in the
stomach but survived. The couple
has four children and several
grandchildren.
— Mary Beth SheridanLost in El Paso: Loving partners, American Dreams
BY YASMEEN ABUTALEBThe first victim was conscious
and described the carnage at t he El
Paso Walmart to doctors.
Within moments, though, the
emergency room at University
Medical Center of El Paso devolved
into controlled chaos: “EMS called
two, three, four, five, six” patients
en route, emergency medicine doc-
tor Nancy Weber recalled. “A t that
point, we knew that, yes, this was a
mass casualty incident — yes, we
were going to be getting a lot of
patients.”
Suddenly, four operating rooms
at t he hospital were in use as teams
of surgeons raced to save people at
risk of bleeding to death from mul-
tiple gunshot wounds. Even for the
only Level 1 trauma hospital for
280 miles, four surgeries at once is
unusual.
“You just got to get in, stop the
bleeding... then come back and
fight another day,” said Alan Ty -
roch, chief of surgery and trauma
medical director.
It kept going like that all after-
noon, as patient after patient
streamed in after a gunman went
on a shooting rampage during the
busy Saturday morning shopping
hours at Walmart, killing 22 people
and injuring more than two dozen
others. By Sunday, t hey had treated
15 patients.
“I told everybody we’re going to
be in this for the long haul,” T yroch
said. “This isn’t a sprint; it’s a mara-
thon.”
The first notification went out
about 11 a.m., shortly after the first
911 call alerting authorities to an
active shooter situation. Many of
the night surgeons were still doing
morning rounds, and the day sur-
geon had already arrived. Sur-
geons began calling in specialists,
residents, nurses — anyone they
could find. Several came in without
being asked after receiving the no-
tification.
Ty roch was in Las Vegas for his
mother-in-law’s 90th birthday
when he received that first notifi-
cation.
“Is this real? Are we getting pa-
tients?” Tyroch asked on a call with
the hospital’s administrator on
duty. Four or five patients were
being brought in with more poten-
tially on the way, t he administrator
told him. Ty roch began furiously
texting faculty and his 18 residents,
15 of whom rushed to the emergen-
cy d epartment. He j umped in a cab
to the airport and made it back to
El Paso within a few hours.
The medical center was ready
for this, officials said. In October, it
had participated in a citywide dis-
aster training: a simulated mass
shooter incident at the El Paso
airport.
On Saturday, as patients poured
in, there was no confusion, no pan-
icking, no question over who was
in charge of what. “We really were
ready,” T yroch said.
Of the 15 people brought in, 14survived. One young woman was
alive when an ambulance took her
from the scene of the shooting but
died within minutes of arriving in
the emergency room, doctors said.
The hospital’s staff attended to
the rest: victims with multiple gun-
shot wounds, victims with bullets
in their chests, a man whose heart
stopped and needed his chest
opened to get it started again.
Doctors placed several tubes
into patients to help them breathe,
opened up two patients’ chests and
treated complex orthopedic inju-
ries from bullets.
The 14 victims required
109 units of blood. On a typical day,
Ty roch said, doctors might use 10
to 12 units.
“A nybody who had skills to help
came down, and we used every
single one of them,” s aid Weber, the
emergency medicine doctor who
also is vice chair of quality and
patient experience.
Del Sol Medical Center, another
hospital within a couple of miles of
the shooting, treated another 11
victims. One of Del Sol’s patients
who required complex specialty
surgery was transferred to Univer-
sity Medical Center, which is
equipped to treat every aspect of an
injury.
As of Monday afternoon, five
patients remained in critical con-
dition at University Medical Cen-
ter with additional surgeries
planned; five were in serious but
stable condition; and two adults
and two children had been dis-
charged — including a 2-month-
old infant boy whose parents hadshielded him from a spray of bul-
lets and were among the dead. He
was treated for broken bones after
his mother fell on him as she pro-
tected him.
Shortly before the shooting, a
manifesto appeared online that au-
thorities believe was written by the
El Paso gunman in which he railed
against a “Hispanic invasion.”
Just 13 hours after the El Paso
shooting, another gunman in Day-
ton, Ohio, killed nine people and
injured 27 others. President Trump
addressed the country on Monday
but said the focus should be on
combating mental illness, rather
than on implementing new gun-
control measures.
For doctors at University Medi-
cal Center, there hasn’t been time
to process any of that. Doctors
performed five operations on Sun-
day. One patient had a major oper-
ation on Monday, Tyroch said. An-
other needs an eight-hour opera-
tion on Tuesday and will need addi-
tional hand surgery. M any patients
will require extensive care and re-
habilitation for days, weeks and
perhaps months to come.
Despite the tragedy, the hospi-
tal, just miles from the U.S.-Mexico
border, still needed to treat other
patients. As victims poured in on
Saturday, the hospital that night
also attended to a migrant at-
tempting to get over a border wall
who jumped off the wall and broke
his leg.
[email protected]Ale xandra Hinojosa in El Paso
contributed to this report.‘Get in, stop the bleeding... and then come back’
BY DREW HARWELLThe anonymous message board
8chan on Tuesday endured new at-
tacks on multiple fronts, losing a key
technical ally shortly before its own-
er was called before Congress to tes-
tify about the notorious site’s racist
and e xtremist content.
The House Homeland Security
Committee demanded in a letter
Tuesday that 8chan owner Jim Wat-
kins, an American Web entrepre-
neur living in the Philippines, must
provide answers to how the compa-
ny had responded in the wake of
mass shootings this year promoted
and c elebrated on the s ite.
“A mericans deserve to know
what, if anything, you, as the owner
and operator, are doing to address
the proliferation of extremist con-
tent on 8 chan,” s aid the l etter, signed
by Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-
Miss.) and Rep. Mike D. Rogers
(Ala.), the committee’s top Republi-
can. In a separate statement, the
committee said lawmakers wanted
to tackle “the very real and p ersistent
threat from d omestic terrorism.”
The anything-goes message
board remained offline Tuesday fol-
lowing major decisions by two tech
companies to stop working with the
site.
It was further pummeled when
Epik, a technology firm that had
vowed to step in and provide assis-
tance to bring the site online, issued
a surprise reversal, citing “concern o f
inadequate enforcement and the el-evated possibility of violent radical-
ization o n the platform.”
Watkins did not immediately re-
spond t o requests for comment. Ear-
ly Tuesday, he had posted a video to
YouTube defending the site as “a
peacefully assembled group of peo-
ple t alking.”
The site has become infamous for
its role in the fatal attacks in El Paso
this weekend and earlier this year at
mosques in Christchurch, New Zea-
land, and a San Diego-area syna-
gogue. Before e ach s hooting, the sus-
pects allegedly used the board to
share hateful s creeds e xplaining a nd
promoting t he a ttacks.
The board is almost entirely un-
moderated, a nd its posters h ave rou-
tinely used the site to traffic in
threats of violence and online hate.
The site’s founder, Fredrick Bren-
nan, told The Washington Post on
Sunday that the site was a haven for
domestic terrorists and should be
shut down for good.
Epik, based outside Redmond,
Wash., had said it would provide
critical services to 8chan after its
previous partner, the online-security
firm Cloudflare, terminated i ts w ork
with the site, calling it a “lawless...
cesspool o f hate.”
Epik chief Rob Monster had said
Monday in a blog post that n ot work-
ing with 8chan was tantamount to
an infringement of free speech. But
on Tuesday, he issued a new post
saying the company had drawn a
“line o n acceptable u se.”
[email protected]8chan loses more allies
as Congress steps in
One El Paso hospital had
trained for mass tragedyMICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEZ/THE WASHINGTON POST
An image of Javier Amir Rodriguez, 15, killed during the mass shooting in El Paso, is displayed during a memorial service Sunday.