El Paso Walmart Shooting Lawsuit: 63 Settlements, 29 Cases Remain

The civil litigation over the August 3, 2019, El Paso Walmart shooting has split in two. Walmart has settled with 63 of the 92 plaintiffs who sued the retailer over the attack at its Cielo Vista store, while the remaining 29 cases are frozen after the Texas Eighth Court of Appeals halted all trial court proceedings in May 2026. The appeals court is weighing whether Walmart can be dismissed from the lawsuits entirely before any trial takes place.¹

Who Sued and What They Claim

The first suit was filed on August 30, 2019, by Jessica and Guillermo Garcia, who were both shot inside the store. Guillermo Garcia later died of his injuries.² More than 90 individual lawsuits followed, naming Walmart, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Texas, LLC, and First Convenience Bank, which operated a branch inside the store.³

The suits assert negligence, gross negligence, and premises liability. Plaintiffs allege Walmart had no visible security presence at Store #2201 on the day of the attack and failed to take steps that could have reduced the death toll. They also allege Walmart assigns a numerical “risk score” to each store based on crime statistics and demographics, and uses that system to direct more security resources to majority-white, higher-income neighborhoods at the expense of lower-income communities of color.⁴

To show the risk of a mass shooting was foreseeable, plaintiffs point to three prior incidents at other Walmart locations: a 2016 hostage standoff in Amarillo, Texas; a 2017 shooting that killed three in Thornton, Colorado; and a shooting in Southaven, Mississippi, days before the El Paso attack, which killed two.⁴

Walmart has maintained that the attack was unforeseeable, arguing that no shooting, murder, or violent crime of this nature had ever occurred at or near Store #2201, and that “Patrick Crusius alone bears moral and legal responsibility” for the massacre.¹

The Texas Rule That Controls the Case

Under Texas law, a property owner generally has no duty to protect visitors from criminal acts by third parties. An exception applies when the risk of criminal conduct is both unreasonable and foreseeable. Courts measure foreseeability using the Timberwalk Apartments v. Cain factors from 1998, which weigh the proximity, recency, frequency, and similarity of prior crimes, as well as the publicity they received. Even if a crime clears that bar, the plaintiff must still show the risk was unreasonable by balancing it against the burden additional security would place on the owner.⁴

That framework decides the El Paso cases, and it is also at the center of a separate matter before the Texas Supreme Court involving the 2023 mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, owned by Simon Property Group.⁵

The Trial Court Clears the Case for Trial

The cases were consolidated before 448th District Judge Sergio Enriquez in El Paso County. In March 2026, Judge Enriquez denied Walmart’s motion for summary judgment, which would have dismissed the lawsuits outright. He ruled that whether the shooting was foreseeable and whether Walmart took reasonable steps to secure the store were questions for a jury.¹

Judge Enriquez ordered the parties into mediation and set trial for July 8, 2026. He also rejected Walmart’s request to pause the case while the Texas Supreme Court considered the Allen mall shooting.⁶

The 63 Settlements

Between May 15 and May 18, 2026, Walmart reached settlement agreements with 63 of the 92 plaintiffs, including families of the dead and people who were injured.⁷ Some of those agreements also resolved claims against First Convenience Bank.⁶

On May 26, lawyers for 14 of the settled plaintiffs filed a notice indicating their agreements were expected to be finalized within 60 days. The financial terms have not been disclosed, and settlement details in cases of this profile are typically kept confidential.¹

The Appellate Stay and the 29 Remaining Cases

On May 14, 2026, Walmart filed a writ of mandamus and an emergency motion with the Texas Eighth Court of Appeals, challenging Judge Enriquez’s denial of summary judgment.⁷ Four days later, on May 18, the appeals court granted the motion and stayed all trial court proceedings, including discovery and mediations, “pending further order of this court.”¹

Walmart then canceled mediation sessions that had been scheduled for May 19 and May 29 for the 29 plaintiffs who had not settled. Attorneys for 18 of those plaintiffs asked the appeals court to order Walmart back to the negotiating table. The court denied that request on June 2, 2026, ruling that when a party objects to mediation and the court finds a reasonable basis for the objection, it cannot force the parties to mediate.³ The other 11 of the 29 plaintiffs have not undergone mediation, and no motions have been filed on their behalf.⁸

What Happens Next

The four El Paso attorneys representing the 18 excluded plaintiffs have said they plan to argue the stay is not warranted under existing law. In a statement, they said their clients “look forward to presenting arguments to the court of appeals” and that they would “continue to seek full justice for our clients who were victims of the August 3rd tragedy.”⁶

Both sides had until June 18, 2026, to file arguments with the Eighth Court of Appeals on whether the stay should continue and whether proceedings should be delayed further to wait for the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in the Allen mall case. Oral arguments in that case are scheduled for September 16, 2026.⁵

The Allen case asks the Texas Supreme Court whether property owners who invite the public to gather and shop owe a legal duty to protect those visitors from mass shootings. If the court rules broadly that such attacks are unforeseeable as a matter of law, the remaining El Paso claims could end without a trial. If the court holds that foreseeability belongs to a jury, the El Paso cases would likely proceed.⁵

1
El Paso Matters. Walmart Settlements El Paso Mass Shooting Plaintiffs Appeals Court Stay
2
KERA News. Couple Injured in El Paso Mass Shooting Sues Walmart
3
Minnesota Lawyer. Walmart Settles El Paso Mass Shooting Victims Lawsuits Pending
4
FindLaw. In Re Walmart, Inc.
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KERA News. Texas Supreme Court to Decide Whether Allen Mall Owner Should Be Removed From Shooting Lawsuit
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KVIA. Walmart Reaches Settlements With 63 Plaintiffs, Cancels Mediation for 29 Others
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KTSM. Plaintiffs Seek Walmart Mediation in Aug. 3 Shooting Case
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AOL News. Walmart Mass Shooting Victims Settle