(Newswire.net — September 2, 2019) — Seven people were killed and more than 20 were injured in another mass shooting this month in the U.S. state of Texas.
The attacker first killed a police officer who stopped his car between the two cities of Midland and Odessa. This was followed by random shootings of drivers and pedestrians passing by.
At one point, the attacker left the vehicle and stole a mail van, from where he continued his bloody rampage.
Police shot him near a movie theater. The motive for the shooting, of the white gunman who is in his thirties, is currently unknown.
Four weeks ago, 22 people were killed in a shooting in El Paso, Texas. Twenty people were injured in the latest incident, three of whom were police officers.
Some were hit by cracked glass from a car window – during the fire exchange.
Later, the Vice President of the United States said that the Trump administration remains “absolutely determined to continue talks with both parties in Congress in order to put an end to such atrocities in our country.”
While there was heated debate over whether enhanced control of weapons purchase, especially military rifles such as AR 15, should be introduced, following the previous shootings in Texas and Ohio, Trump supported the idea, stating that “in-depth customer checks” should be done.
However, he changed that attitude in part after a phone interview with Wayne La Pierre, the executive director of the National Association of Gun Owners who stressed that he too is very concerned about the Second Amendment, “more than most or the president would be.”
A top NRA executive, then-Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Wilson H. Phillips Jr., signed a document in May 2018 promising the gun lobby would contribute $6.5 million for 99% ownership of a company formed to buy a Dallas mansion for LaPierre, according to a copy of the document reviewed by the Journal.