On October 29, 2026, news outlet El Paso Matters filed a petition in Texas state court seeking an order to force the city of El Paso and the local District Attorney’s Office to unseal investigative records from the August 3, 2019 Walmart mass shooting that killed 23 people. The Texas Attorney General’s Office previously ruled the files secret under Texas Family Code provisions for child abuse because minors were present during the attack, a rationale transparency advocates call an improper expansion of state law.
El Paso Matters lawsuit to unseal records
- ▪El Paso Matters filed a petition for a writ of mandamus on October 29, 2026, seeking a judicial order to compel the El Paso District Attorney’s Office and the city of El Paso to release 2019 Walmart mass shooting investigation records.
- ▪El Paso Matters is represented in the public records lawsuit by the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law First Amendment Clinic, with support from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
- ▪The public records petition filed by El Paso Matters against the city of El Paso and the El Paso District Attorney's Office was assigned to 243rd District Court Judge Selena Solis.
El Paso authorities' response to record requests
- ▪El Paso District Attorney James Montoya stated that his office complies with Texas law regarding open records requests and seeks rulings from the Texas Attorney General when information may be withheld.
- ▪Neither the city of El Paso nor the El Paso District Attorney’s Office has publicly released investigative records from the August 3, 2019 Walmart mass shooting, which killed 23 people and injured 22.
Controversy over Texas Family Code confidentiality
- ▪Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas Executive Director Kelley Shannon stated that the Texas Attorney General’s Office misconstrues the Texas Family Code by applying child abuse confidentiality shielding to non-caregiver situations where minors were merely present.
- ▪The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services provided no records to El Paso Matters regarding any child abuse investigation related to the August 3, 2019 El Paso Walmart mass shooting.
- ▪Chapter 261 of the Texas Family Code establishes confidentiality specifically for child abuse or neglect investigations conducted by Child Protective Services involving a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare.
- ▪The Texas Attorney General’s Office issued rulings over an 18-month period concluding that investigative records from the August 3, 2019 El Paso Walmart mass shooting are confidential under Texas Family Code provisions governing child abuse.
Releases of materials by Texas DPS
- ▪The Texas Department of Public Safety released a video of police interrogating Patrick Crusius and crime scene photos to YouTube channel Interrogation Files, which shared the materials with El Paso Matters.
- ▪The Texas Department of Public Safety released a video in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation compiled store camera footage to trace Patrick Crusius's movements during the 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting.
Patrick Crusius convictions and motive
- ▪Attorneys for Patrick Crusius stated in court filings that Crusius carried out the August 3, 2019 El Paso Walmart mass shooting to stop what he termed 'the Hispanic invasion of Texas.'
- ▪Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes and weapons charges in 2023 and to state capital murder and aggravated assault charges in 2025, receiving multiple life sentences without parole.
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