The shooting in Texas killed 8 people, including an armed man

The number of deaths in a
mass shooting in west Texas
rose to eight on Sunday, including the shooter, the authorities said.

At least one of the gunshot victims remained in a life-threatening state, the authorities said.

Those killed were between the ages of 15 and 57, Chief of Police Michael Gerke said Sunday in Odessa, Texas.

He declined to name the shooter at a televised news conference.

"I will not give him any notoriety for what he's done," said Gerke. No reason was given for the shots.

Authorities said the shooter had used an "AR-type weapon" in the rampage, according to the Associated Press.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who attended the press conference, listed other recent state massacres, including downtown Dallas, Sutherland Springs, Santa Fe, and New York. El Paso.

"I have attended too many of these events," Abbott said.

"Too many Texans are in mourning. Too many Texans have lost their lives, "said Abbott. "The status quo in Texas is unacceptable and measures are imposing."

Abbott also read a text that, he says, was sent to him on Sunday morning by the mother of a 17-month-old girl shot and wounded. The mother recounted that her daughter was still cheerful despite her injuries and that the operation was planned to remove a shrapnel from the chest and fix her mouth.

The tragedy began to unfold around 15:30. Saturday. The rampage, which lasted nearly two hours, shook residents of the twin cities of Midland and Odessa.

The shooting began with a road check and ended with an exchange of gunfire with the police in a movie car park. More than 20 people have been affected by seemingly random attacks.

The details of the victims have not been published yet. Among the wounded are three law enforcement officers, said police chief Gerke.

The shooter, who was shooting from his vehicle, was only identified as a white man of about thirty years.

"Take your loved ones. Pray for this city, "said Russell Tippin, general manager of the hospital where some of the victims were being treated.

"It's a scary incident," he added in an interview with a local television channel.

The shots mark what has become a particularly lethal summer of gun violence across the country.

In July, three people were killed by an armed man at a festival in Gilroy, California. In the aftermath of the August 3 mass shooting in El Paso, nine people were killed in Dayton, Ohio.

Saturday's shooting comes as Texans still feel shaken by the 22 killings in El Paso.

Beto O'Rouke, a Democratic presidential candidate from El Paso, reacted to the shootout on Twitter saying, "Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa and all the people of West Texas who have had to endure this. again…. We must end this epidemic. "

"Our community is devastated," said John B. Love, a member of Midland City Council. "It's really, really horrible."

Love, who supports gun rights, added that the country needed to hold a conversation about large-scale shootings "because lives depend on it".

"We have to do something," he said.

Residents of Midland and Odessa were busy celebrating the start of the Labor Day weekend. A nine-day rural fair – the fair and exhibition of the Permian Basin – opened Friday with pig races, a tractor shooting and a Wild West show.

Less than 24 hours later, law enforcement officers advised motorists to stay off the road.

"Active shooter! Please Share! ", Wrote an ad on the Facebook page of the Odessa Police Department.

At the time, unconfirmed reports of a second gunman added to the chaos of the fast
evolving shooting rampage, which began with a stoppage of traffic. A soldier from the Ministry of Public Security arrested the shooter's gold Honda between Midland and Odessa and was shot dead.

According to the police, the shooter then headed west to Odessa, and began to "shoot random people."

Zindy Galindo was traveling to Walmart this afternoon with her 3-year-old son when she was almost cut off by an erratic driver who shot the vehicle in front of her.

Galindo heard the shot, not knowing what it was. Then she saw the rear window of the vehicle in front of her burst.

"At that time, I panicked," she said, "and called my husband."

She continued to go to Walmart, thinking that it was a case of road rage, but when she saw people running in the parking lot, she knew that it was
worse.

When the gold Honda passed, the pilot was still firing, she said, "I grabbed my vehicle.
son out of the car seat and is hidden on the floor of my SUV ".

The shooter had apparently chosen 42nd Street in Odessa as a target. 42nd Street, one of Odessa's main attractions, has a number of retail stores – Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Starbucks – packed with Saturday buyers.

Vehicles parked in the street were punched with bullets. The 17-month-old girl was
among passers wounded in the attack.

She was hit in the face with a fragment of a bullet and was flown to Lubbock for treatment, according to a statement.
family friend, and was in a stable state on Saturday night.

A restaurant employee described the chaos of people screaming and moving chairs while they were trying to cover themselves.

The CBS 7 reporters, who were filming from their studio inside a shopping center, were summoned to evacuate by the police, who initially thought the gunman was nearby.

They continued to report remotely on the chaos
customers who ran in the mall until the police determined that it was cleared.

The gunman shot indiscriminately along 42nd Street and, at one point, abandoned his vehicle, hijacked a mail truck and continued shooting.

An unidentified witness told the local television channel that his postman had been hit in the head during the theft of the vehicle.

Jorge Nieto was at his parents' home in Odessa, browsing Facebook, when he began to see items attracting the attention of an active shooter in his neighborhood.

Walking towards the front of the house, he looked out the window and saw a body lying in the street. He was not sure if it was the factor or another victim.

"I did not hear any shots," he said. "I was confused, I thought someone was arguing.

Nieto also said he saw a nearby mail van with police vehicles approaching.

"It's normal for us to see four or five police cars in this part of the city," he said.

The gunman was en route to a movie complex where, after hitting a police vehicle in the parking lot, he exchanged fire with police officers and died.

Moviegoers fled the theater and flooded the parking lot. Some have gone to the shelter in an adjacent field of land.

The video showed the police approaching the stolen postal truck with their weapons fired and fired.

Officials declined to say whether the gunman was killed by police or committed suicide.

A hospital had set up a staging area with the help of bereavement counselors and social workers.

Texas Atty. General Ken Paxton said he had asked law enforcement and victims of crime to help residents recover.

"I am horrified to see such an insane act terrorize the good people of the Permian Basin," he said in a statement, adding his appreciation for the first responders who helped put an end to "this evil attack".

While the victims recover in hospitals after the shooting in El Paso and. now, Odessa, the newly formed Texas Safety Commission, is meeting to consider next steps.

Times editors Ralph Vartabedian and Cindy Chang contributed to this report.