On Sunday, officials said a gunman who went on the rampage with an AR-type rifle in West Texas murdered seven individuals and injured 22 others, including a baby shot in the face, before being killed by police.
Police said the second four-week mass shooting in Texas started with a routine traffic stop on Saturday afternoon and finished when the suspect, a white male in his 30s, was cornered by policemen in a cinema complex’s parking lot.
Police, motorists, and shoppers were all caught up in the chaos that unfolded during a busy weekend of Labor Day holiday between Odessa and Midland towns.
Authorities said police knew the shooter and lived locally. The inquiry was continued by authorities, but there was no obvious connection to national or international terrorism.
“There are no definitive answers as to motive or reasons at this point, but we are fairly certain that the subject did act alone,” Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said at a news conference.
Gerke said seven victims were murdered and 22 injured, offering their families his condolences.
“My heart aches for them all,” he said.
Among the wounded was a 17-month-old girl, Anderson Davis, who, according to officials, was shot in the face and her family launched an online fundraising campaign.
Three police officers were shot and injured-one from Midland, one from Odessa and one from the State Department of Public security-in stable condition.
Odessa police identified the gunman as Odessa’s Seth Aaron Ator, 36, in a Facebook post.
On Aug. 3, a gunman killed 22 people in another Saturday shooting at a Walmart store about 255 miles (410 km) west of Midland in the city of El Paso, Texas.
President Donald Trump called the shooter from Odessa-Midland “a very sick person,” but said that gun buyers ‘ background controls would not have prevented latest U.S. gun violence.
In comments to journalists on Sunday, Trump said that when Congress returns this month, he would work with Democrats and Republicans on gun legislation. “I think you’re going to see some interesting things coming along,” he said.
The bloodshed between Midland and Odessa started when two state troops pulled over a car on Interstate 20 for not using their turn signal and one of them was wounded by the solitary occupant shot at their patrol vehicle with an “AR-type” gun.
After fleeing, the suspect hijacked a postal van and opened fire on passersby before being shot dead outside the Cinergy cinema complex in Odessa, police said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbot praised first responders and medical personnel, and told reporters that the hurt felt by the victims was “incalculable.”
And he read a text message he received from the wounded toddler’s mother, thanking everyone for their prayers.
“I have been to too many of these events,” Abbot said, reciting the shootings in Dallas, Sutherland Springs, Santa Fe High School and El Paso that have happened since he became governor in 2015.
“I’m heartbroken by the crying of the people of the state of Texas. I’m tired of the dying of the people of the state of Texas … the status quo in Texas is unacceptable, and action is needed,” Abbot said.