AT least seven people died and 20 were wounded in Texas after a man stopped by police for failing to signal a left turn opened fire.
The shooting began with a traffic stop where gunfire was exchanged with police, setting off a chaotic rampage during which the suspect hijacked a postal service vehicle and fired at random while driving around Odessa and Midland, located more than 300 miles west of Dallas. The male suspect, named by police as 36-year-old Seth Ator, was later killed by police officers.
Seven people remained in critical condition at one hospital after the shooting, said Russell Tippin, chief executive of Medical Centre Hospital in Odessa.
He said a child under two years of age was taken to another hospital. Those killed in the shooting ranged in age from 15 to 57.
Authorities have no motive for the shooting, and the FBI has said there is no reason to believe Ator had connections to terrorism. Hours after the shooting, new Texas laws which loosen gun restrictions in schools and places of worship – passed in June – went into effect.
After the shooting Vice President Mike Pence said President Donald Trump and his administration “remain absolutely determined” to take steps to “address and confront this scourge of mass atrocities in our country”.
Trump has offered contradictory messages to recent mass shootings. Days after the El Paso shooting, 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, instead calling for greater attention to mental health to prevent mass shootings.
There have now been 25 mass killings in the United States so far this year.
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