Kids in El Paso kept hearing about mass shootings. Now they're trying to comfort friends who went through one.
Every week or so, children are witnessing or hearing about people dying while going to the movies, walking with friends at a garlic festival, going to work or school, shopping at a Walmart. They get texts from their friends, follow the hashtags (e.g., insert town here + strong), and listen to their parents or siblings recount the harrowing, life-altering experience of running from that pop, pop, pop.
Over dinner at a Pizza Hut, after baseball practice, at vigils and memorials, El Paso children told BuzzFeed News what it's like to be living the latest "we can't believe it happened here," and how they talk about mass shootings at school, home, and with their friends.
"I was screaming bad," said Lea Viellgas, 7, remembering fleeing the Walmart. "After we passed by where my uncle works at, I started crying more because he works at the mall and I was scared he was going to die."
👉 The El Paso shooting suspect admitted to targeting "Mexicans" according to police.
👉 After recent shootings, Walmart is removing violent video game displays — but not guns.
👉 A gun-toting man in body armor who sparked panic at a Missouri Walmart was arrested for making a terrorist threat.
👉 Their daughter was killed in Aurora. Now they say the anti-gun violence movement has left them behind.
👉 A Las Vegas man was arrested for plotting a white supremacist attack on an LGBTQ bar and a synagogue.
Jeffrey Epstein's victims still want justice, despite his apparent suicide in jail
After officials said disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell on Saturday morning, his accusers and their lawyers are calling for authorities to continue to fight for justice.
"The fact that Jeffrey Epstein was able to commit the selfish act of taking his own life as his world of abuse, exploitation, and corruption unraveled is unfortunate yet predictable," said Brad Edwards, who represents many of Epstein's accusers, in an email to BuzzFeed News.
Epstein was facing a maximum of 45 years in prison after being charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors. He had pleaded not guilty.
Snapshots
A husband claims bikers caused his wife's suicide by posting a "suggestive" photo of her all over town. In a lawsuit filed in West Virginia, Roy Fernatt alleges that some members of the Fire and Iron Motorcycle Club bullied Denise Fernatt by posting the photo of her all over the small town of Glasgow. On Aug. 4, 2017, Fernatt was fired from her job after her employer was sent the photo. The next day, she killed herself.
Universal won't release "The Hunt" movie after backlash from Trump and Fox News. The satirical movie depicts conservative Americans being gruesomely hunted for sport by liberal "elites." The decision to withhold the movie, which had been set to hit cinemas on Sept. 27, was also impacted by the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Gilroy, California.
Amid the Equinox boycott, Armie Hammer called out the Marvel Entertainment chairman for Trump donations. “Hey, while everyone seems to be on this Equinox thing,” he tweeted, “it might be a good time to mention that one of Trump’s largest financial contributors is the chairman of Marvel Entertainment (Isaac Perlmutter)..... jussayin."
A transgender man was suspended from his Christian college for being trans, losing his housing hours after getting top surgery. Welch College is providing Yanna Awtrey, 21, with a hotel room and food until Aug. 12, after which Awtrey is going to stay with family friends in North Carolina for the remainder of his recovery. After that, who knows. "I’m just taking it one step at a time," he said.
Men at a Norway mosque overpowered a gunman who fired shots at them in an alleged attempt at terrorism. Oslo police on Sunday praised the men for their "great courage" in confronting an armed attacker. No one was killed in the shooting, but police are investigating the 20-year-old suspect's role in the death of his 17-year-old stepsister.
An elderly couple who died in a murder-suicide said they could no longer afford health care
An elderly couple, identified as Brian Jones and Patricia Whitney-Jones, 76, who officials believe died by murder-suicide, left notes expressing concerns that they could not afford to pay for their medical expenses.
Deputies responded to a home in Ferndale, Washington, on Wednesday morning after a 77-year-old man called 911 and told the dispatcher he was going to kill himself.
"The dispatcher attempted to keep the caller on the line without success," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "The man disconnected the call after saying 'We will be in the front bedroom.'"
23 photos to kick off your week
Every week, photo essay editor Gabriel Sanchez compresses seven days into a series of photos from around the world, depicting the big news and the small moments that keep us moving. Here are some of my favorite photos from his most recent essay.
