A group of approximately 100 people gathered Tuesday evening in Ascarate Park to unveil a memorial garden marking the two-year anniversary of the mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso.
Four weeks after the El Paso shooting, the 36-year-old gunman allegedly killed seven people and wounded 25 in Midland and Odessa on Aug. 31 before being shot and killed by police.
"El Paso and Odessa will forever be linked through the innocent blood that was shed in both our communities in August 2019, but bonded by our determination to emerge even stronger than before,” State Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa) said Tuesday in a tweet. “As we mark Aug. 3, Odessa sends its love and support west to El Paso."
The Ascarate Park Healing Garden consists of a 10-foot-high, semicircular white stone wall with plaques engraved with the names of the 23 people who died, as well as 23 Italian cypress trees planted by the victims' families, native plants and fountains of water that organizers said would serve as a living memorial to those who lost their lives.
The invitation-only event was attended by local officials, the families of the victims, Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and comedian George Lopez, as reported by the El Paso Times.
Most of the victims in El Paso were Latino, and the alleged gunman had posted online about his desire to "stop the Hispanic invasion of Texas," KTEP reported.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego led the effort to plant the "healing garden" to commemorate the victims and give their families and friends a peaceful place to mourn.
“The sound of water always gives us a sense of healing,” Samaniego, who was formerly a psychologist, told KTEP. “They should never die in vain. What is it I could do to make things more transformational?”
As Texans mourn the lives that were lost in August 2019, some are holding state officials accountable for preventing future mass shooting deaths.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill in May, which was sponsored by Landgraf, to warn people when a shooting event is taking place, the Midland Times reported. The shooter alert system would broadcast a warning by mobile phone and text messaging (SMS), as well as on television and radio.
The bill is named the Leilah Hernandez Act after the youngest victim of the Odessa shooting, a 15-year-old high school student.
"I’m proud of this bill because it will help save lives, empower individuals against would-be killers, and protect the constitutional rights of law-abiding Texans," Landgraf said in a May 25 Facebook post.
Some Lone Star residents, particularly Democrats, feel that more needs to be done to prevent gun violence.
Earlier this year the governor signed a bill which, beginning Sept. 1, will allow residents to carry a handgun without a permit. At the same time, according to the FBI, violence by extremist groups is on the rise in the state, KTEP reported.
Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick argue the problem is being caused by migrants coming across the border. In a June 16 press conference announcing the construction of a border wall, Abbott said Texans' "homes are being invaded" along the southern border. The lieutenant governor echoed this sentiment.
“We’re being invaded,” Patrick said at the press conference, KTEP reported.