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Communities for Peace, a collaboration of El Paso’s leading music institutions, announced today that it has commissioned a new piece of music to honor the victims of the August 3, 2019 mass shooting in El Paso.

“We have come together to form Communities for Peace as an artistic response to the pain and shock our community felt on this tragic day,” the group said in a joint statement.

“Together, we are proud to commission a new work to acknowledge this horrific tragedy and offer consolation to our community.”

CFP officials share that the world premiere of the 22-minute cantata — one minute for each person killed in the attack — will be at 7:30 p.m. September 25-26, 2020 at the Plaza Theatre, as part of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra’s 90^th anniversary season-opening concerts.

El Paso Requiem is the working title of the piece by Cuban-American composer Jorge Martin.

Martin is a versatile, award-winning composer whose works have been performed or commissioned by New York’s Center for Contemporary Opera, the Cecilia Chorus of New York, the Fort Worth Opera, the Florida Grand Opera, and tenor Brian Downen, a professor of voice at UTEP.

The performance will include a UTEP music department chorus and El Paso Opera soloists. The concerts will be conducted by Bohuslav Rattay, EPSO music director.

El Paso Opera, El Paso Pro-Musica, the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and The University of Texas at El Paso Department of Music formed Communities for Peace as a positive response to the events of that tragic day, which left 22 dead and hundreds wounded or suffering trauma.

Communities for Peace is working with the El Paso Community Foundation to raise $15,000 for the completion of the project. Donations may be made via this link.

Bishop Seitz returned from his Ad Limina visit at the Vatican with a gift from the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the victim’s families and the injured victims of the tragedy at Walmart on August 3rd.

During his two and a half-hour audience with the Holy Father, along with the Region X Bishops of Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, Bishop Seitz requested that the Holy Father keep in his prayers the victims and the families of those affected by the events on August 3rd.

Following the meeting with the Region X Bishops, the Holy Father gave Bishop Seitz 50 rosaries that he had blessed to give as a personal gift from himself to those affected by those horrific events on August 3rd.

The Diocese of El Paso is requesting the shooting victims, specifically those 22 families who lost a loved one, and those who were injured during the tragedy, to reach out to the office of the bishop so that his office can receive a family and victim list and contact information. One rosary will be given to each family of the fallen and one rosary to those surviving victims.

The Diocese will be holding a small prayer vigil on February 6th at 5pm at the Pastoral Center Memorial to mark the six month since the tragedy.

For those families who choose to attend, Bishop Seitz will hand-deliver the gifts from The Holy Father, Pope Francis, at that time. The Diocese will also make arrangements for Bishop Seitz to hand-deliver these gifts at a later time of their choosing for those who cannot attend the vigil.

Nearly three months after the shooting that took the lives of 22 shoppers and injured 26, the Cielo Vista Walmart reopened Thursday, November 14th.

As members of the press and law enforcement looked on, shoppers slowly made their way into the remodeled store.  Cheers could be heard from the Walmart staffers inside.

Some Walmart team members and shoppers alike comforted each other as the reopening got underway.

One shopper who spoke with our crew said she felt a bit uneasy walking into to the store, but the feeling quickly went away, once she was inside and the staff welcomed her in.

Father Fabian Marquez, who visited the site a few weeks back, was invited back by Walmart team members to start the day with a prayer.  Once the doors opened for the east-central store, it quickly filled with shoppers.

Many had feared that the store – the only large grocery store within walking distance for the nearby neighborhoods – would not be reopening.

The store reopening comes on the heels of the move of the memorial that overlooked the site for months, as city officials relocated the many of the items to a new, temporary memorial site a few blocks away at Ponder Park.

Walmart officials are also constructing a permanent memorial to the victims on the store’s property.

Our very own Ruben R. Ramirez and Johnny Yturales were there and we bring you their views of the reopening via this gallery and video.

Beginning Tuesday, the City of El Paso will be removing items from the makeshift community memorial near the Cielo Vista Walmart that honors the victims of the August 3 shooting.

“As our region continues to heal, we are working to honor the sentiment and wishes behind the items that were brought to the makeshift community memorial,” said Quality of Life Deputy City Manager Tracey Jerome. “Ponder Park became the place where our community gathered in the immediate hours following this horrific act, and we hope the park will continue to be a place where people can go to reflect and heal.”

City officials shared that the process involves two phases: selecting and moving a variety of items to a temporary memorial located at Ponder Park, 7500 W. H. Burges Drive, and removing and cataloging the remaining them for historical purposes.

Professionals from the El Paso Museum of Art, the El Paso Museum of History and the Public Art Program will install various select items on a structure that has been installed at Ponder Park, a few blocks from the Cielo Vista Walmart.

Museum archival experts and volunteers will be working with the Central Transportation and International Moving Warehouse to carefully disassemble the makeshift memorial.

Every item will be cataloged and archived in order to document this part of El Paso’s history.

Central Transportation and International Moving Warehouse are assisting with the process as a donation to serve the El Paso community. The donation is an example of the outpouring of donations and assistance, both large and small, from businesses and individuals throughout the region’s heartrending experience.

The City of El Paso developed the process for the move after consulting with experts from other communities that were impacted by similar acts of violence.

“The city received invaluable guidance from Pittsburgh, Orlando, Boston, Las Vegas and the 9/11 Memorial Museum in order to determine the next steps to move forward,” officials added.

Gallery by Ruben R. Ramirez – El Paso Herald Post

The man accused of killing 22 people and injuring more than two dozen others in the August 3rd shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart plead not guilty at his first appearance in court Thursday afternoon.

Amid the clicking shutters of cameras and the hushed whispers of those in attendance in the packed El Paso County Ceremonial Courtroom, Patrick Crusius entered and at times stood with a neutral look on his face as the arraignment proceedings went on around him.

Security was tight in and around the court, as uniformed Sheriff’s Deputies, as well as other law enforcement  were visible.  Several deputies stood side by side, facing the courtroom’s gallery.

During the brief hearing, Crusius was sworn in, and then advised the court that he did not want the charges read to him; instead Crusius received a transcript and read them himself.

He then pleaded not guilty to the charges, surrounded by his lawyers and security personnel.

Judge Sam Medrano, of the 409th state District Court presiding over the hearing, then set another hearing for November 7th at 2 p.m.

District Attorney Jaime Esparza did not comment on the case.  Esparza is seeking the death penalty in this case.

Photos by Ruben R. Ramirez / El Paso Herald-Post

After a gunman took the life of Margie Reckard in a mass shooting at a Walmart store two weeks ago, her husband Antonio Basco didn’t have any other family in this town. So he invited all El Pasoans to celebrate “the love of his life” at her funeral Friday.

Their response overwhelmed him.

Hundreds of people began lining up outside La Paz Faith Memorial and Spiritual Center in Central El Paso at about 5 p.m. The line of supporters eventually spanned several blocks and grew to nearly 1,000. A group of motorcyclists that included several veterans stood at attention while holding American flags. Later, neighbors set up a buffet line for supporters who were still in line as the afternoon turned to evening.

Basco thanked the people there for the support. A thin, 61-year old man who walks with the help of a cane, he greeted hundreds of supporters inside the church, where mariachis serenaded parishioners before an hour-long prayer service delivered by Bishop Harrison Johnson. But the El Pasoans who lined up to offer their condolences said they also owed Basco for offering them a chance to come together and try to heal as a community.

Dean Eckard, Reckard’s son who came to El Paso from Omaha for the services, described her as a gentle soul who “had it tough” growing up.

“But when she met Tony though, she seemed really happy and in love,” he said. Eckard added that his mother was battling Parkinson’s disease when she died. “For Tony to stick by her through those years … I can’t thank you enough.”

Earlier this week Basco told CNN that he takes fresh flowers to a vigil at the Walmart everyday. In a video posted by the news outlet, Basco could be seen speaking to his wife at the site of a white cross that bears her name.

“There’s going to be a lot of people. I told you you were important,” he said before the funeral. “So what you been up to? What are you going to do up there? I wish you could tell me something.”

The attack on Aug. 3 killed 22 people and is being investigated as a hate crime. Authorities believe the gunman posted an online manifesto railing against the “invasion” of Texas by immigrants and Mexicans. Friday’s funeral was one of the final services for the victims of the massacre, which included eight Mexican citizens. The attack has thrust the issue of gun control back into the spotlight; Gov. Greg Abbott has announced the creation of a domestic terrorism task force.

State Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat, said the display was a physical manifestation of the city still trying to make sense of the tragedy.

“This is a very real way for everyone to openly grieve and go through that process. When you lose someone in your personal life, this is a part of that process you go through,” he said. “I think our community lost something and this is our community grieving together.”

Politics wasn’t a major theme Friday night. But Salvador Perches, owner of Perches Funeral Homes who coordinated the service, announced he ordered 22 hearses to deliver the hundreds of floral arrangements donated for the funeral to the Walmart parking lot to honor the victims.

He also hopes to make a point.

“We’re going to make a statement to the world,” he said. “That something is wrong, and something needs to change.”

Disclosure: Walmart has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Author:  JULIÁN AGUILAR – The Texas Tribune

El Paso shooting

More than 20 people were killed in an Aug. 3, 2019, shooting rampage at a Walmart in El Paso. The gunman was arrested and charged with capital murder for the shooting in El Paso, which is recoveringfrom what federal law enforcement has classified as an act of domestic terrorism.

MORE IN THIS SERIES 

Officials with University Medical Center of El Paso and El Paso Children’s Hospital provided an update on the patients treated at each hospital as a result of the mass casualty shooting at an El Paso Walmart on August 3.

As of today, five patients remain hospitalized at UMC.

The following is an update regarding all 15 patients brought to University Medical Center of El Paso as a result of the mass casualty shooting:

 1 adult patient remains in critical condition and is receiving treatment in University Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit

 4 adult patients are in stable but serious condition at University Medical Center

 7 adult patients have been discharged from University Medical Center

 2 children were transferred from University Medical Center to El Paso Children’s Hospital on Aug. 3 with non-life threatening injuries and discharged by El Paso Children’s Hospital Aug. 4

 1 adult patient was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at University Medical Center on Aug. 3

Officials added that another update would be provided “when there is a significant change in status of these patients.”