Mourners hold up cellphone lights at the vigil. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Mourners gather at an interfaith vigil on Sunday, the day after the mass shooting. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke (L) and his wife Amy pray at the interfaith vigil. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for the gunman. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
A young girl attends the vigil with a flag draped on her shoulders. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Investigators are probing racial prejudice as a motive for the mass shooting. Six of those who died and seven who were injured were Mexican nationals, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador said. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Bishop Mark Seitz addresses the community at an interfaith vigil. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
The massacre in El Paso is among the top 10 deadliest single-day shootings in modern U.S. history. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Internet services provider Cloudflare said it has stopped hosting a controversial website that is connected to at least three mass shootings, possibly including this one. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
A memorial lies outside the Walmart on Sunday. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Diana Martinez holds a sign she made before a vigil at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Members of the community make signs before a vigil at the center. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Artist Manuel Oliver stands in front of a mural he is painting of his son, Joaquin, who was killed in the Parkland School shooting, outside of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
The U.S. Attorney for the western district of Texas, John F. Bash, announces the government is pushing hate crime and domestic terrorism charges against the shooter. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen told reporters the gunman surrendered to authorities in the store. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
People attend a vigil at St. Pius X Church in El Paso on Saturday. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Three women embrace after a vigil at the church. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
People exit St. Pius X Church following the vigil. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Attendees get emotional while attending the vigil. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
An attendee gets emotional while attending the vigil. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Police respond to the mass shooting at Walmart and the Cielo Vista Mall on Saturday. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
The shooter was apprehend without police firing a shot at 11:06 a.m., 21 minutes after police received first notification of the shooting. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
People evacuated from Walmart sit outside a cordoned-off area. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Police respond to the shooting. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Police question a family during the mass shooting. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
People are evacuated from the Cielo Vista Mall. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
Police respond to the mass shooting. Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI
EL PASO, Texas, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Mexico's top diplomat reiterated Monday that he considers Saturday's mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, to be an act of terrorism against Mexican citizens and said his government will be participating in the investigation.
The foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said eight citizens of Mexico were among the 22 shot and killed. He added that six are still in area hospitals.
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"We consider this to be an act of terrorism," he said during a press conference at the Mexican Consulate General's office in El Paso. "In this case, it was carried out in the United States, but it was terrorism against Mexican citizens."
Ebrard said he will be sharing police reports provided to him by local authorities with Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero as the government moves forward with its investigation.
Ebrard also visited some of the wounded Monday and met with local officials to discuss sending the victims' bodies back to Mexico as soon as possible.
The alleged shooter, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, north of Dallas, allegedly posted an anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic manifesto before the shooting spree.
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas are considering possible federal hate crime and domestic terrorism charges. Those would be in addition to the state-level capital murder charge the district attorney's office has levied against the shooter.
According to Ebrard's Twitter feed, the eight Mexican fatalities include people from the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Coahuila and Aguascalientes.
Mexican officials have complained for years about what they consider lax U.S. gun laws, especially as they relate to violent crime in Mexico when weapons purchased in the United States are smuggled south of the Rio Grande River.
Although Saturday's shooting occurred in the United States, the fact that eight Mexicans died has reignited Mexico's criticism. Ebrard said his office is pursuing action against "the sale and distribution of arms like the assault weapon that ended the lives of the eight Mexicans and, as of now, 14" Americans, he said in Spanish.
Immediately afterward, he said in English, "[We are] analyzing, but we are definitely going to do it."
Ebrard concluded his press conference by offering the government's condolences to El Paso and the United States.
"We are friends of the people of the United States; this is a binational community, El Paso and Ciudad Juarez," he said. "We are different cultures, but we need to live and respect each other, in Mexico and in the United States."
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. Read the original here. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans -- and engages with them -- about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.