Happy New Year and wishes for a fun, healthy, and safe 2024! I look forward to the continued partnership and information sharing we have with you all. I want to be able to push the envelope of sharing to help everyone see how the FBI operates and continue dispelling the mistruths and myths about the FBI.
When looking back at 2023, one of the biggest accomplishments for FBI El Paso and our community was obtaining the guilty plea for the 2019 Walmart shooter and the closure of the federal case with 90 consecutive life sentences. Although it doesn’t bring back the ones we’ve lost or help the individuals still recovering from the traumatic events of that day, and least we were able to provide justice for the atrocities and pain he caused in our loving community.
Two of FBI El Paso’s top concerns for 2024, will be addressing hoax threats affecting our schools and violent gangs. We will be working with the District Attorney’s Office and County Attorney’s Office to develop proactive PSAs directed towards the youth and the continued growth of our joint Threat Assessment teams. Working with EPPD, we’ve seen an increase of gang violence plaguing El Paso neighborhoods. Through our Violent Crime Reduction Initiative, we will continue working with our partners at the Texas Anti-Gang Center to identify and dismantle established gangs as well as the newer gangs forming on our streets. Too many juveniles are ruining their futures with hoax threats and numerous young lives have been lost from pointless gang violence.
And as always, we will need the help from the community to identify those juveniles that need assistance or to report violence affecting your neighborhoods. You all know your streets better than we do and we can’t eradicate crime without your help.
I look forward to settling in here in El Paso and getting out there in the community. Please say hi if you see me out in the community. I’d love to hear how we are doing.
John Morales
Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso
With El Paso so close to the Mexican border and Mexico in the throws of revolutionary struggle during the early 1900s, southwest Texas became a key focus of the Bureau soon after its founding in 1908. As the FBI heads into its second century, the El Paso Division remains committed to protecting the people and defending the nation while upholding the rule of law and the civil liberties of all.