Pensacola, Fl
Local media quoted authorities as saying that the death toll in the mass shooting, which spread chaotically on West Texas highways, has risen to seven.
Police said five people were killed and 21 wounded in the crossfire between the cities of Midland and Odessa.
The attacker died in a shootout with police outside a movie theater in Odessa.
On Sunday, a spokesperson for the city of Odessa told reporters that there were now eight confirmed deaths, including the shooter – three in the Midland and five in Odessa.
The shooter’s identity and motives were not disclosed, although police described him as a white man in his mid-30s.
The accident began when soldiers attempted to tow a gold passenger car on Highway 20.
“The driver (and the only passenger in the car) aimed his rifle at the rear window of his car and fired several shots at the DPS unit,” the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement before it stopped.
The administration said a soldier was wounded and the suspect fled and “continued to shoot innocent people.”
The shooter led the police in a wild chase, hijacking a US mail truck and opening fire randomly.
Less than a month after a gunman killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas – less than 300 miles (480 kilometers) west of Odessa – recent bloodshed sparked new calls for steps to stop the mass shootings in the United States. .
In a message on Twitter, US President Donald Trump congratulated the law enforcement authorities in Texas, the FBI and first responders for their response to the “terrible shooting tragedy yesterday … a very difficult and sad situation!”
But later, speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, he said that while discussions about curbing gun violence were going on with lawmakers from both parties, “It hasn’t really changed anything.”
While he himself spoke after the El Paso shooting about asking for “robust background checks” to prevent unstable people from purchasing guns, Trump said Sunday that recent history showed that “as much as you check your background, they’re not going to stop any of it.” “
But former Texas congressman Peto O’Rourke, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, bluntly disagreed.
“If we cannot act decisively, we will continue this bloodshed,” he stated.
