City of El Paso Announces Plans for Community-Wide Memorial Service

The City of El Paso announced it will have a memorial service to honor the 22 people who lost their lives in the recent Walmart mass shooting. The service is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, at Southwest University Park.

Plans for the free, non-ticketed event were made public during a special El Paso City Council meeting on Thursday (8/8) called to update city officials on the shooting and its aftermath. The memorial will be open to the public until the ballpark reaches capacity, per Tracey Jerome, Director of the El Paso Museums & Cultural Affairs Department.

In order to accommodate every El Pasoan, Juarez resident, and Las Crucen who wants to attend, the memorial will also be simulcast at Cleveland Square across the street from the ballpark, outdoors at the Convention Center Plaza, and indoors at the neighboring Abraham Chavez Theatre.

In addition to the downtown venues, a simulcast will also be shown at Ponder Park on Viscount, which is located just down the street from Walmart where the shooting took place.

Jerome said all on-street metered parking and garage and lot parking will be free that evening, including the Convention Center parking garage, Union Plaza Transit, and the service lots on Mesa.

Free parking will also be available uptown at the Glory Road transit center by UTEP. Those who park there can ride the streetcar for free to downtown. All six streetcars will be in service that day.

For out-of-towners and locals who cannot make it in person, the memorial will be streamed live on Facebook. For updates and up to the minute information, click HERE.