Five people were killed and 21 injured in random shootings by a motorist in the area of Odessa, Texas, police said Saturday.
Three of the injured were law enforcement officers, including a state trooper, Odessa police Chief Michael Gerke said at a news conference.
“What a horrific day for Odessa,” he said.
A shooter was believe to be using Interstate 20 in Odessa and nearby Midland during the attack, law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Gerke said the attack happened after the suspect, in a gold Honda, was the subject of a 3:17 p.m. traffic stop in the area. The trooper who stopped the suspect was shot, he said.
The alleged shooter went on to Odessa where multiple people were shot, the chief said. The suspect then ditched the vehicle he was using and took a U.S. Postal Vehicle to a local theater, Cinergy, where a shootout with law enforcement from multiple agencies took place, he said.
“An exchange of gunfire happened and that subject is deceased at that location,” Gerke said.
“It has been confirmed that the active shooter was shot and killed at the Cinergy in Odessa,” Odessa police said on Facebook. “There is no active shooter at this time.”
President Donald Trump was briefed on the attacks and had been monitoring the situation, White House communications officials said.
Gov. Greg Abbott called it a “senseless and cowardly attack”
The initial reports of active shooting on the roads of the Odessa area, the setting for the book and subsequent film and television show “Friday Night Lights,” were frightening.
Odessa police said on Facebook earlier, “A subject (possibly 2) is currently driving around Odessa shooting at random people. At this time there are multiple gunshot victims. The suspect just hijacked a U.S. mail carrier truck and was last seen in the area of 38th and Walnut.”
Police urged the public to get off the road “and use extreme caution.”
Midland police initially said on social media that they believe are two shooters in two different vehicles. “The two vehicles in question are: gold/white small Toyota truck and a USPS Postal Van.”
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin told students, staff and faculty to shelter in place.
Credit: NBC
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