By Campbell Robertson, Julie Bosman and Mitch Smith, August 4, 2019<\/p>\n
DAYTON, Ohio \u2014 On Sunday, Americans woke up to news of a shooting rampage in an entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio, where a man wearing body armor shot and killed nine people, including his own sister. Hours earlier, a 21-year-old with a rifle entered a Walmart in El Paso and killed 20 people.<\/p>\n
In a country that has become nearly numb to men with guns opening fire in schools, at concerts and in churches, the back-to-back bursts of gun violence in less than 24 hours were enough to leave the public stunned and shaken. The shootings ground the 2020 presidential campaign to a halt, reignited a debate on gun control and called into question the increasingly angry words directed at immigrants on the southern border in recent weeks by right-wing pundits and President Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s outrageous,\u201d said Terrion Foster, who works in accounting and lives in Kansas City, Mo., where he was out shopping at a farmer\u2019s market near downtown on Sunday afternoon. \u201cIt\u2019s really sad because I feel like you can\u2019t go anywhere and be safe. I\u2019m 50 years old and I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be alive to see some of the things that are going on today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shootings prompted Republicans, including Mr. Trump, to condemn the gunmen\u2019s actions and offer support to the people of Dayton and El Paso. Democrats urged Congress to take action and pass stricter gun laws. \u201cWe have a responsibility to the people we serve to act,\u201d Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Residents of El Paso were on edge, grimly aware of a manifesto posted online<\/a> that the authorities said was written by the suspect, Patrick Crusius, 21, who was in police custody. The manifesto spoke of a \u201cHispanic invasion of Texas,\u201d described an imminent attack by the writer and railed against immigrants.<\/p>\n