Man stopped by West Texas state troopers goes on rampage, killing 7
THE death toll in Saturday’s gun rampage in West Texas rose to seven yesterday.
Police had earlier said five people, including the gunman, were killed in the mass shooting that began with a traffic stop and ended when the shooter was cornered by officers in the parking lot of a cinema complex in Odessa, Texas.
Authorities have not named the victims or the gunman but said on Saturday that he was a white male in his 30s who was known to police.
Meanwhile, 21 people were wounded.
The rampage between the cities of Midland and Odessa started on Saturday afternoon when the state troopers pulled over a car on Interstate 20 and the lone occupant fired at their patrol vehicle with a rifle, wounding one of the troopers.
After fleeing the scene, the suspect hijacked a postal van and opened fire on police officers, motorists and shoppers on a busy Labor Day holiday weekend before being shot dead outside the Cinergy cinema complex in Odessa.
Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke declined to comment on a motive for the shootings.
The suspect shot “at innocent civilians all over Odessa,” said an Odessa police statement.
The terrifying chain of events began when Texas state troopers tried pulling over a gold car mid-Saturday afternoon on Interstate 20 for failing to signal a left turn, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger.
Before the vehicle came to a complete stop, the driver pointed a rifle toward the rear window of his car and fired several shots toward the patrol car stopping him.
The gunshots struck one of two troopers inside the patrol car, Cesinger said, after which the gunman fled and continued shooting. Two other police officers were shot before the suspect was killed.
Gerke did not go into detail about the chase but the movie theater where the suspect was killed is more than 16 kilometers from where state troopers pulled over the gunman.
The shooting comes just four weeks after a gunman in the Texas border city of El Paso killed 22 people after opening fire at a Walmart.
US mass killings up to 27
Texas Governor Greg Abbott this week held two meetings with lawmakers about how to prevent more mass shootings in Texas.
The shooting Saturday brings the number of mass killings in the US to 27 this year, more than the number in all of 2018, according to The AP/USATODAY/ Northeastern University mass murder database.
The number of victims for this year has already reached 142, the level of all last year.
Odessa police spokesman Steve LeSueur said that at least one person who was shot remained in life-threatening condition yesterday.
He said a child under 2 years old was transported to another hospital, adding one person the hospital had received had died.
Tippin said 13 shooting victims were being treated at the hospital on Saturday.
US Vice President Mike Pence said following the shooting that US President Donald Trump and his administration “remain absolutely determined” to work with leaders in both parties in Congress so they “can address and confront this scourge of mass atrocities in our country.”
Days after the El Paso shooting Trump said he was eager to implement “very meaningful background checks” on guns and there was “tremendous support” for action. He then contradicted himself saying the current system of background checks was “very, very strong.”
(AP)