WATCH: Friend Of El Paso Gunman's Grandparents Reads Family's Statement Regarding Mass Shooting
ALLEN (CBSDFW.COM) — A friend of the El Paso gunman's grandparents, Larry and Cynthia Brown of Allen, read the family's statement in regard to their grandson's involvement in the shooting that left multiple people dead Saturday.
The gunman, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, was armed with a rifle and opened fire in an El Paso shopping area Aug. 3, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured.
District Attorney Jaime Esparza announced Sunday that Crusius will face a capital murder charge, which makes him eligible for the death penalty.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is also investigating the mass shooting as a domestic terrorism case and that it will also seek federal hate crime charges against Crusius since a manifesto was found online Saturday that appeared to be written by him.
In the manifesto, he listed "the Hispanic invasion of Texas" as one of the motivations for the attack.
Attention has since been drawn to his grandparent's Allen home since more than a dozen members of law enforcement — including agents from the FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — were seen at the house.
The family friend — who does not want his identity released — said he knows Crusius' grandparents from church and that they asked him to read their statement.
The statement read:
"We are devastated by the events of El Paso and pray for the victims of this tragedy. Patrick Crusius is our grandson. He lived with us in our house in Allen, Texas while he attended junior college at Collin County College. He moved out six weeks ago and spent a few nights here while we were out of town. His drivers license and mailing address were at our house in Allen — that connection has made us the focus of media. We are talking only to law enforcement agencies and will not be making further statements to the media. We request the media to honor our privacy."
He said Crusius' grandparents are very distraught by the shooting, but have family visiting at this time.
Allen is more than 600 miles from where Saturday's shooting occurred.
The FBI said the gunman didn't have any contacts in El Paso.
WATCH: El Paso Gunman's Grandparents Statement Regarding Mass Shooting
