MIDLAND, Texas (1010 WINS) – A suspect was shot and killed in west Texas Saturday after police said he was "shooting at random people" in a hijacked mail truck after fleeing a traffic stop—a shooting that left at least seven people dead and more than 20 people shot, according to authorities.
Odessa police spokesman Steve LeSueur said Sunday that at least one of the victims remains in "life-threatening" condition.
Police said the shooter was killed in a Cinergy entertainment center in Odessa, Texas, after a shootout with police Saturday afternoon. Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said he was a white male in his mid-30s.
"There is no active shooter at this time. All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects," Midland Police wrote on Facebook a couple hours after the shooting began shortly after 3 p.m. local time.
The update came after police said they were searching for multiple shooters in separate vehicles—a Toyota truck and a "hijacked" U.S. Postal Service vehicle.
Police later said they believed there was only one shooter and that he was in both the Toyota and the stolen USPS vehicle.
The terrifying chain of events began when Texas state troopers tried pulling over a gold car mid-Saturday afternoon on Interstate 20 for failing to signal a left turn, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Katherine Cesinger said. Before the vehicle came to a complete stop, the driver "pointed a rifle toward the rear window of his car and fired several shots" toward the patrol car stopping him. The gunshots struck one of two troopers inside the patrol car, Cesinger said, after which the gunman fled "and continued shooting innocent people," including two police officers.
At some point the suspect hijacked the USPS vehicle and continued shooting at people near Interstate 20 and Highway 191 in the Midland and Odessa area.
Gerke said he believes the threat is over but that authorities remain vigilant.
"Once this individual was taken out of the picture, there have been no more victims," Gerke said.
Five people were killed in the shooting, according to police, who said more than 20 civilians were also shot and injured, some of them seriously. At least two of the injured had died by Sunday morning, bringing the death toll to seven.
“It’s so chaotic still at the local hospitals that it’s very difficult to get that information,” Gerke said when asked about the conditions of the victims.
Three officers—one from Midland, one from Odessa and the one from the Texas Department of Public Safety—were shot and injured, according to police.
Fourteen of the victims were at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, the hospital CEO, Russell Tippin, said.
“You need to pray for this town and all the towns and all the victims involved,” Tippin told reporters. “Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.”
The mayor of Midland, Texas, told the New York Times that the gunman was shooting at motorists on highways in central Texas, including Interstate 20 and Highway 191, after the traffic stop.
“They are shooting at random,” Mayor Jerry Morales told the Times before it was confirmed only one gunman was likely involved.
Photos and video from the scene show vehicles with bullet holes in them.
Morales said a rifle was used in the shooting, but didn't specify what type of rifle it was.
President Trump said Attorney General William Barr briefed him on the shooting and that federal authorities are investigating.
The NYPD said it was monitoring the shooting.
The shooting comes weeks after a gunman shot and killed 22 people at a shopping center in El Paso on Aug. 3 in one of the deadliest shootings in Texas history. Twenty-four other people were injured in that shooting.