[kellyhound]

At least five people were killed and another 21 injured after a white male gunman opened fire on police and random civilians along Interstate 20 and Highway 191 in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa. The gunman was later cornered and killed by police.

The rampage began at 3:17 p.m. on Saturday when two Department of Public Safety officers tried conduct a traffic stop on a gold Honda in Interstate 20 in Midland.

The driver, a white man in his 30s, pointed a rifle at the officers and opened fire, striking one of them.

The gunman then drove off and fled west to Odessa, about 20 miles away, randomly firing at other drivers and pedestrians from his vehicle on both Interstate 20 and Highway 191.

One witness was in his truck at an Odessa Starbucks when he heard a volley of gunfire, then ducked down and tried to shield his newborn daughter in the back seat. He told the Washington Post that when he climbed out of his truck after the shots stopped, he saw at least three cars that had been struck with bullets — and a 17-month-old girl who had been shot in the face through her bottom lip, knocking out her teeth.

He said the girl’s mother held the still-conscious baby while volunteers tried to stop the bleeding. Paramedics arrived within minutes and rushed them away. (She survived, according to a Go Fund Me page raising money for her family.)

The gunman eventually ditched his car in Odessa and hijacked a U.S. Postal Service van, then continued firing at victims from that vehicle.

Police ultimately cornered the shooter in the parking lot of the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa, where they shot and killed him in the ensuing gun battle.

One witness shared a video online of the final confrontation, later telling that “I could see the officer walking up to the mail van and discharging his weapon into it, and I believe that’s when the shooter was killed.”

Five people were killed and another 21 injured, including three law enforcement officers, according to Odessa police. It’s not clear how many of the injured were shot by the gunman.

13 victims were sent to Permian Regional Medical Center in Odessa, which was also locked down because of the shooting. Seven victims were listed in critical condition on Saturday night. One victim died of their injuries at the hospital, according to a hospital official.

The official also confirmed that one of the injured was a child younger than two, which appears to have been the girl who a witness said was shot near an Odessa Starbucks.

A Go Fund Me page set up of by a friend of the girl’s family has identified her as 17-month-old A. D. According to the page, one bullet fragment hit her in the chest, and another put a hole in her lip and tongue and knocked her front teeth out.

By midnight Saturday local time, the Go Fund Me effort had raised more than a $100,000 for the little girl and her family in less than six hours.

The gunman has not been identified, but Odessa police chief Michael Gerke said at an afternoon press conference that he was a white man in his 30s. The motive of the shooter is not yet clear, nor is why he was pulled over.

The mobile nature of the rampage over a range of many miles, let alone the fact that the gunman fired on his victims from two different vehicles, fueled mass confusion and fear in both Midland and Odessa. The sister cities spent hours placed on lockdown while authorities tried to figure out what was happening.

In addition, multiple authorities each announced that there was an active shooter event, rather than just one. KOSA-TV, an Odessa television station, evacuated its studio during a live broadcast.

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, also in Odessa, ordered its students to shelter in place.

Texas governor Greg Abbott, who has repeatedly worked to loosen gun control regulations in his state, called for unity on Saturday and offered his “unwavering support” to the victims of the new shooting in West Texas. He added that he wanted “to remind all Texans that we will not allow the Lone Star State to be overrun by hatred and violence.”

Despite the fact that four of the ten worst mass shootings in American history have been committed in Texas, the state was hours away from enacting multiple new laws further reducing gun control measures as the West Texas shooting was playing out.

As on Sunday, schools will not be able to ban gun owners from keeping their weapons in their vehicles outside, landlords and homeowners will no longer be able to ban gun owners from keeping weapons on their property, and houses of worship will not be able to ban handgun owners from carrying their weapons inside.

[medicineman360]

This is the new norm, I guess.

Hearing those children cry, because they're truly terrified is sobering as fuck.

[dietcherrycoke]

Is it time for thoughts and prayers yet?

[DiamondSmiles]

I think the US is trying for a record for the number of states to have shootings.

I don´t know who currently holds it.

kellyhound, the deaths are up to 7.

[Samoth]

This is out of control. Fucking idiots.

[DiamondSmiles]

kellyhound, the death toll is up to 7 now.

[Broadjumper]

https://newsone.com/3885826/seth-aar...er-identified/

[Broadjumper]

This must be a result of that WHITE *******, huh Oswald?

[Suicide_Note]

Originally Posted by dietcherrycoke ↗

Is it time for thoughts and prayers yet?

It's time to arm yourself, and do what you can to protect those that you're with.

[DiamondSmiles]

Meet Seth Aaron Aton, the 36 year old shooter/murderer.