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Texas: police investigate third US mass shooting in a month Barr drafts new death penalty law as Texas copes with latest mass shooting
(about 8 hours later)
Authorities on Monday are investigating the West Texas shooting rampage that killed seven at the weekend, involving a high-speed chase that terrified motorists. Twenty-two injured people are recovering and the youngest victim, a 17-month-old, is scheduled for surgery after she was shot in the face. In the wake of a west Texas shooting rampage that killed seven people at the weekend, it has been revealed that the US attorney general, William Barr, has been drafting legislation to speed up the process leading to the death penalty in federal cases for people who commit such mass murder, officials said on Monday.
Local communities are already raising money for wounded survivors and bereaved families. Marc Short, the chief of staff to vice-president, Mike Pence, told journalists traveling on Air Force 2 en route for an official visit to Poland that the proposal would be among new gun legislation the Trump administration intends to pitch to the US Congress, which reconvenes next week. Short said Pence had communicated with Barr about the issue.
On Monday, with Hurricane Dorian taking aim at Florida and the south-east coast, a boat tragedy unfolding in southern California and west Texas trying to pick up the pieces from another mass shooting, Donald Trump has been retweeting messages from hurricane experts and tweeting attacks on opponents and the media. Pence is visiting Poland without the president after Donald Trump postponed his visit because Hurricane Dorian began bearing down towards the US mainland.
By mid-morning the president had not tweeted on this day about the shooting rampage that stretched from Midland to Odessa in west Texas. He was at his golf course in Virginia, as he was on Sunday. The White House has, by the president’s own account, been working on ways to address gun violence after the recent mass shootings. Trump addressed the subject on Saturday after a gunman went on a high-speed drive in Midland and Odessa, Texas, spraying bullets from an assault rifle as he drove, before being killed by police.
He talked on Sunday of unspecified planned measures to try to reduce gun violence and the topic is likely to be high on the agenda when Congress reconvenes in Washington next Monday. The incident began soon after 3pm on Saturday when a man, later identified as the gunman, was stopped by state troopers for failing to signal a turn. He opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle then fled, hijacking a mail truck and shooting people at random.
Saturday’s was the third major mass shooting in August, following the El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, shootings, but it was unclear on Monday whether the president’s words on gun violence of late will turn into legislative action, despite rising deaths. The president did not set out any specifics when he reacted to the killings on Saturday. There has been no meaningful legislation on the issue in recent times and Trump has a record of bringing up gun control measures and then retreating quickly.
Hundreds of community members gathered Sunday night at the University of Texas Permian Basin, in Odessa, for a prayer vigil honoring victims of Saturday’s massacre in Midland and Odessa. FBI special agent Christopher Combs said the gunman involved in the west Texas rampage “was on a long spiral down” before he was fired from his job on the day of the shooting.
Soon after 3pm on Saturday, a man was stopped by state troopers for failing to signal a turn. The man opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle then fled, hijacking a mail truck and shooting people at random. The shooter’s motives remained unclear on Monday, although it emerged that he was fired from his trucking job hours before the shooting, various media and officials reported. Combs said the home of the gunman, identified at the weekend as 36-year-old Seth Aaron Ator, was “a strange residence” and that the conditions “reflect what his mental state was, going into this”.
At the vigil, pastors, speaking in Spanish and English, implored attendees to pray for victims; they also thanked law enforcement officers and medical workers who responded to the shooting. Authorities say Ator was dismissed from his job at Journey Oilfield Services on Saturday morning and then made “rambling” phone calls to the emergency services and the FBI. Combs says Ator had gone to work that day “in trouble.”
“In West Texas you have to be tough,” Odessa Mayor David Turner reportedly said. “Yesterday was a horrible day that shook us to our very foundation but it will not break us.” Representative Tom Craddick, a state legislator, told the Midland-Reporter Telegram that the shooter had failed a background check at his job. A neighbor claimed that the gunman approached her house last month, while carrying a large rifle, and shouted at her for putting garbage in a Dumpster nearby, according to CNN.
“We’re out here in the middle of nowhere,” said Jerry Morales, Midland’s mayor, at the vigil. “All we’ve talked about is oil forever. And then this happens.” Advocates for greater gun control, inside and outside Washington, have been frustrated and angered by lack of action from Congress and the White House in the past decade, and lately by the president’s focus on many topics in relation to trying to reduce mass shootings – except greater gun control.
A T-shirt machine produced free shirts with the slogan Permian Basin Strong, and an area florist distributed free flowers and handmade cards, according to NBC’s Dallas-Forth Worth affiliate. Trump has recently appeared to blame mental health issues, a general “glorification of violence” and violent video games for repeated mass shootings, after the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, earlier in August.
“We just wanted to pass out some love just to let people know that we love them,” Jodie Gonzales explained. But some opponents, especially Democrats in Congress and candidates for the 2020 presidential election, say these issues are just as relevant or prevalent in other countries but only the US has such a high frequency of mass shootings and widespread availability of guns, including legal, high-powered assault rifles.
Jaszlen Rodriguez sported a yellow T-shirt that featured a photo in remembrance of the youngest fatality, 15-year-old Leila Hernandez. Trump has also explored expanded background checks, but he has wavered on the issue. Top Senate Democrats have urged Republicans to consider gun legislation that was already passed at the house.
“She was a very nice person,” the 15-year-old said, according to the TV station. “She was always laughing and smiling.” Saturday’s rampage was the third major mass shooting in August, following incidents in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
Turner also revealed that amid the chaos, community members rallied to help one another. Communities in Texas are raising money for wounded survivors and bereaved families. Twenty-two injured people are recovering and the youngest victim, a 17-month-old, was scheduled to undergo surgery after she was shot in the face.
When the city ran out of ambulances, civilians and officers alike hurried injured persons to the hospital, Turner said. Hundreds of community members gathered on Sunday night at the University of Texas Permian Basin, in Odessa, for a prayer vigil honoring the victims of the massacre.
Funds are pouring in for Anderson Davis, the 17-month-old struck with a bullet fragment. Pastors, speaking in Spanish and English, implored attendees to pray for victims and thanked law enforcement officers and medical workers who responded to the shooting.
The baby “has shrapnel in her right chest, which thank God is superficial. She has a hole through her bottom lip and tongue and her front teeth were knocked out. She is alive”, her mother told fundraiser organizer Haylee Wilkerson. “In west Texas you have to be tough,” Odessa’s mayor David Turner reportedly said. “Yesterday was a horrible day that shook us to our very foundation but it will not break us.”
Midland police officer Zack Owenswas shot in the arm and hand and struck in the eye with glass shards. T-shirts with the slogan “Permian Basin Strong” were distributed along with free flowers and handmade cards, according to NBC’s Dallas-Forth Worth affiliate.
Abigail McCullough, who described herself as the wife of Owens’ cousin, was busy raising funds for the officer and she revealed more details about the extent of his injuries.
“Both knuckles were destroyed by bullet entry to left hand. Right arm has a radial head fracture, it’s in a sling and is put together now,” McCullough wrote in an online post. “Arteries and blood supply to both arms are good. Which is great. He may have loss of some nerves. Arteries did fine. Tendons were damaged to right arm and left fingers. But he’s OK.”
Meanwhile, new details have been reported about the gunman.
Hours before the shooter opened fire Saturday afternoon, he was dismissed from his job as a truck driver, according to several reports.
Representative Tom Craddick, a state legislator, told the Midland-Reporter Telegram that the shooter had failed a background check at his job.
A neighbor also claimed that the gunman approached her house last month, while carrying a large rifle, and shouted at her for putting garbage in a Dumpster nearby, according to CNN.
She also claimed that at night, he would often shoot into his yard from atop his house. The gunman would then go pick up dead animals, she said.
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US crimeUS crime
Gun crimeGun crime
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