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Texas: shooting that killed five and injured over 20 began with traffic stop Death toll in Texas shooting rises to seven as O'Rourke condemns inaction
(about 2 hours later)
Five people were dead and a child under two years old was among more than 20 wounded after a man stopped by Texas state troopers for failing to signal a turn opened fire, hijacked a mail truck and went on a rampage, shooting people at random. As the death toll in a mass shooting in Texas on Saturday rose to seven, Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic presidential candidate, used an appearance on live television to denounce America’s epidemic of gun violence as “fucked up”.
Texas shooting: five dead and 21 injured near Midland and OdessaTexas shooting: five dead and 21 injured near Midland and Odessa
Hospital officials said the child, a boy, was shot in the face. The former congressman from El Paso broke with convention when he told CNN’s State of the Union the polite rhetoric deployed by most politicians, of “thoughts and prayers”, was no longer adequate.
The shooting happened between Odessa and Midland on Saturday afternoon. It was the second mass shooting in Texas in a month, prompting renewed and angry calls for meaningful gun reform. He was speaking hours after a chaotic shooting spree in Odessa and Midland left seven people including the gunman dead and a 17-month-old child shot in the face among more than 20 wounded.
Among responses from contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, Beto O’Rourke, formerly a congressman for El Paso, where a gunman killed 22 people a Walmart on 3 August, told an audience in Virginia: “This is fucked up.” Odessa police spokesman Steve LeSueur announced the rise in deaths from five to seven and said at least one person remained in a “life-threatening” condition.
The suspect was described by Odessa’s police chief, Michael Gerke, as a white male in his 30s. He was chased down and shot and killed in a parking lot outside a cinema between Odessa and Midland. Soon after 3pm on Saturday a man was stopped by Texas state troopers for failing to signal a turn. The man opened fire then fled, hijacking a mail truck and embarking on a rampage in which he shot people at random.
Police did not say if the number of dead included the gunman. An update was expected on Sunday morning. On Saturday officials said the 17-month-old boy was airlifted to Lubbock. A medical update on Sunday suggested the young boy was in “satisfactory condition”.
Seven people remained in critical condition at one hospital, said Russell Tippin, chief executive of Medical Center hospital in Odessa. Yes, this is fucked up. If we are not able to call it out we will continue to have this kind of bloodshed
Tippin said the child under two was transported to another hospital. Hospital officials later said the boy was airlifted to Lubbock. It was the second mass shooting in Texas in a month. O’Rourke, who has been at the forefront of calls for tougher gun laws since 22 people were killed at a Walmart in his home town on 3 August, recited the stark statistics.
On average, he said, the US was suffering 300 mass shootings a year. In a New York Times survey, 51 people were recorded to have died in such events in August alone.
“So yes, this is fucked up,” he said. “If we are not able to call it out we will continue to have this kind of bloodshed.”
As a sign of how polarised the gun debate is in Texas, no fewer than eight new laws came into effect on Sunday, dramatically loosening already lax controls. The legislation will allow Texans to carry guns into churches, synagogues and other places of worship, permit more guns to be deployed in schools and remove restrictions on licensed gun owners on how they store their firearms in vehicles.
O’Rourke is calling for universal background checks on all gun sales, a ban on the sale of AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles and a mandatory buy-back of those weapons.
The suspect in Odessa, described as a white male in his 30s, was chased and shot dead in a parking lot outside a cinema between Odessa and Midland, more than 10 miles from where he was pulled over.
A police update was expected later on Sunday.
In the aftermath of the shooting, confusion reigned. Police said two suspects were on the loose. The location of the shooting was wrongly announced.
The shooting began when state troopers pulled over a gold car on Interstate 20 for failing to signal a left turn, said a Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman. The driver “pointed a rifle toward the rear window of his car and fired several shots”, striking one of two troopers inside a patrol car. The gunman fled and two other officers were shot.
The gold car pulled up and the man was there and he had a very large gun and it was pointing at meThe gold car pulled up and the man was there and he had a very large gun and it was pointing at me
Tippin said one person the hospital received had died. It was unclear if that victim was among the five dead. Tippin said 13 victims were being treated at the hospital on Saturday. Witnesses described gunfire near shopping plazas and busy intersections. One woman, Shauna Saxton, said she was driving with her husband and grandson in Odessa and had paused at a stoplight when they heard loud pops.
In the aftermath of the shooting, confusion reigned. Police in Midland and Odessa issued statements which said two suspects were on the loose. The location of the shooting was wrongly announced.
The terrifying chain of events began when Texas state troopers pulled over a gold car on Interstate 20 for failing to signal a left turn, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said.
Before the vehicle came to a stop, the driver “pointed a rifle toward the rear window of his car and fired several shots”. The shots struck one of two troopers inside a patrol car, Cesinger said, after which the gunman fled.
Two other officers were shot. The condition of the three officers was not immediately released.
Multiple witnesses described gunfire near shopping plazas and in busy intersections. A driver, Shauna Saxton, said she was driving with her husband and grandson in Odessa and had paused at a stoplight when they heard loud pops.
“I looked over my shoulder to the left and the gold car pulled up and the man was there and he had a very large gun and it was pointing at me,” she told TV station KOSA. Saxton said she was trapped because there were two cars in front of her.“I looked over my shoulder to the left and the gold car pulled up and the man was there and he had a very large gun and it was pointing at me,” she told TV station KOSA. Saxton said she was trapped because there were two cars in front of her.
“I started honking my horn. I started swerving and we got a little ahead of him and then for whatever reason the cars in front of me kind of parted,” she said, sobbing. She said she heard three more shots as she sped away.“I started honking my horn. I started swerving and we got a little ahead of him and then for whatever reason the cars in front of me kind of parted,” she said, sobbing. She said she heard three more shots as she sped away.
Gerke did not go into detail about the chase, but the cinema where the suspect was killed is more than 10 miles from where the troopers pulled over the gunman. On CBS’s Face the Nation, O’Rourke made reference to a video, apparently of the shooting in progress, which spread on social media on Saturday.
Texas’ governor, Greg Abbott, this week held two meetings with lawmakers about how to prevent mass shootings. He said he would visit Midland-Odessa on Sunday. “I also just watched a video on Twitter of a family that is pinned to the ground, the children are crying,” he said. “They’re all Mexican American in a part of our country where Mexican Americans were targeted and hunted for their very ethnicity.”
The vice-president, Mike Pence, in Poland for commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the start of the second world war, said Donald Trump and his administration “remain absolutely determined” to work with both parties in Congress to “address and confront this scourge of mass atrocities in our country”. The suspect in the El Paso shooting has been linked to a “manifesto” posted online which detailed far-right positions.
Don’t know what the motivation is, do not yet know the firearms that were used … But we do know this is fucked up “People are living with fear,” O’Rourke said, “feel like they have targets on their backs right now. Kids afraid to go to school tomorrow morning. This is not right. Unacceptable.“And I won’t accept it.”
Trump was monitoring Hurricane Dorian from Camp David in Maryland and his golf club in Sterling, Virginia. He said he had spoken to the attorney general, William Barr. Texas’ governor, Greg Abbott, this week held two meetings about how to prevent mass shootings. He said he would visit Midland-Odessa on Sunday.
Democrats pursuing the nomination to run against Trump issued angry statements, calling for gun reform. The vice-president, Mike Pence, said Donald Trump and his administration “remain absolutely determined” to work with Congress to “address and confront this scourge of mass atrocities in our country”. Trump, monitoring Hurricane Dorian from Camp David in Maryland, said he had spoken to attorney general William Barr.
In a less formal manner, O’Rourke told an audience in Virginia: “Not sure how many gunmen. Not sure how many people have been shot. Don’t know how many people have been killed. The condition of those who have survived. Don’t know what the motivation is, do not yet know the firearms that were used or how they acquired them. But we do know this is fucked up.” Democrats competing with O’Rourke for the nomination called for gun reform. Days after El Paso, Trump said he was eager to implement “very meaningful background checks” and told reporters there was “tremendous support”. He later backed off.
Trump has offered contradictory messages. Days after El Paso he said he was eager to implement “very meaningful background checks” on guns and told reporters there was “tremendous support” for action. He later backed away, saying the current system of background checks was “very, very strong.” Trump has called for greater attention to mental health. Some mental health professionals say such thinking is outdated and would have a minor impact.
Most recently, Trump has called for greater attention to mental health, saying new facilities are needed for the mentally ill as a way to reduce mass shootings. In Odessa, Dustin Fawcett told reporters he was sitting in his truck at a Starbucks when he heard at least six gunshots less than 50 yards behind him. He spotted a white sedan with a shattered passenger window.
Some mental health professionals say such thinking is outdated, that linking mental illness to violence is wrong, and that the impact of more treatment would be helpful overall but would have a minor impact on gun violence. “Oh man,” he thought. “This is a shooting.”
In Odessa, Dustin Fawcett told reporters he was sitting in his truck at a Starbucks when he heard at least six gunshots ring out less than 50 yards behind him. He spotted a white sedan with a passenger window that had been shattered. That’s when he thought: “Oh man, this is a shooting.”
TexasTexas
Gun crimeGun crime
Beto O'RourkeBeto O'Rourke
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