The El Paso Strong Moment That Left a Courtroom in Tears
August 3, 2019, is a date that will forever carry a different weight in El Paso.
Seven years ago, 23 innocent lives were taken in a horrific mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart. It was a day that changed our community forever.
But in the days, months and years that followed, El Paso showed the world that while hate could hurt us, it could never define us, and our community proved that El Paso Strong is more than just a phrase. It’s a way of life!
The El Paso Strong Moment One Man Says He’ll Never Forget
Monday, August 3, 2026 is the 7th anniversary of the mass shooting and on this day our morning show asked the community to share their “El Paso Strong” stories with us, the moments that live rent free in their minds.
Senior Director of Community Resiliency for United Way, Alberto Ruiz, joined us live in the studio and when we asked him that question his answer took us back to an El Paso courtroom and a moment of forgiveness that left nearly everyone inside speechless.
Love Overcame Hate In This El Paso Courtroom
While holding back tears, Alberto Ruiz told us the story of when he was in the courtroom last year when families of the August 3 victims came face-to-face with the man responsible for taking their loved ones from them.
There was anger. There were tears. There were years of pain finally being spoken out loud, but then came a moment Ruiz says he will never forget. Adriana Zandri, whose husband was murdered in the shooting, asked for permission to hug the shooter.
Not out of weakness. Not because the pain was gone. But as a step toward finding peace.
Ruiz recalled that there wasn't a dry eye in the courtroom. People were stunned as they witnessed an act of grace that many of us might struggle to imagine giving after experiencing such tremendous loss.
For Ruiz, that moment represented what El Paso is all about: love and forgiveness. He explained that sometimes it is easier to forgive than to continue carrying the anger and pain inside of you.
Zandri wasn't the only person to choose forgiveness that day. Yolanda Tinajero also asked Judge Sam Medrano if she could hug the shooter, saying the embrace would help bring her healing.
El Paso Continues To Heal
Those hugs didn't erase what happened on August 3, 2019. They didn't erase the lives lost, the families forever changed or the pain our community still carries seven years later, but they showed that even after experiencing unimaginable hate, there are people in this community who still choose love!
Seven years later, there are countless moments that remind us of the strength of this community: strangers helping strangers, people donating blood, businesses opening their doors, memorials filled with flowers and families refusing to let the names of their loved ones be forgotten.
And sometimes, El Paso Strong looks like something as simple as opening your arms to someone who caused unimaginable pain. Hate came to El Paso on August 3, 2019. Seven years later, love is still louder. That is El Paso Strong.
Forgiveness and Fury: El Paso Walmart Shooter Faces Victims Families
Gallery Credit: Photo Credit: Photos by Ruben R. Ramirez/El Paso Inc."
Six Years Later: A Visual Tribute to the Victims of August 3rd
Gallery Credit: Getty Images