Several people are dead after a shooting in El Paso, Texas, officials say - CNN

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock reacted early to the shooting situation in El Paso, Texas, as information emerged Saturday afternoon.

At a public union forum in Las Vegas, Booker told reporters that he didn’t have a lot of the details yet.

But he began to passionately advocate for people to join together for a “movement” now — and not to wait for Election Day — to act on passing gun reforms “before it happens to yet another community, before another person dies.”

“I just want to say we are in this unimaginably just distraught moment in this country where we seem to be almost accepting this idea that these are going to be a regular occurrence,” Booker said. “And so I have had enough of this, especially living in a community where gun shots are all too regular.”

“We have to, in this election, have leaders who are willing to stand up and say I'm not going to let this issue be determined by what the interests of the corporate gun lobby are,” Booker said.

Bullock said “my (heart goes) out to the folks in Texas.”

“I think if we could ever look at this as a public health issue — not just a political issue — we could make meaningful progress,” Bullock said.

Julián Castro took to Twitter to call the shooting, "Truly devastating." And asked for people to "Stay safe."

Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, a spiritual book author, offered prayers for the inhabitants of El Paso as well as prayers "for all the rest of us as well, that we might summon up the courage to remove this scourge from our midst."

Democratic hopeful and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted, "My grandmother used to take me to Cielo Vista Mall. Now it’s one more mass shooting scene. How many more must grieve before we act?

CNN's Caroline Kenny and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

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