Shooting near Odessa, TX

Nobody really knows anything about it, yet.

Death toll in Odessa shooting rises to 7, a 17-month-old child among those injured

The rampage began after the suspect, in a gold Honda, was the subject of a 3:17 p.m. traffic stop between Midland and Odessa, officials said Saturday. 

The gunman shot the trooper who initially stopped him and continued west to Odessa, where he shot multiple others, according to Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke.

"The suspect continued shooting at innocent civilians all over Odessa," police said in the statement.

The suspect then ditched the vehicle he was using and took a U.S. Postal vehicle to a local movie theater, Cinergy, where a shootout with law enforcement from multiple agencies took place, he said.

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Police have not released the identity of the shooter or the victims in the attack.

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A senior law enforcement official briefed on the case and a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety said the shooter had a rifle that may have been a .223 AR-15 style weapon.

Officials were also trying to determine whether the suspect had other weapons on him during the shooting or at his home.

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The attack, the second mass shooting in Texas this month, prompted a round of calls for stricter gun laws from some hopefuls running for the Democratic nomination for president.

Not clear at all what stricter gun laws they have in mind or how they would have made a difference.

Texas loosens firearm laws hours after the state's latest mass shooting left 7 dead

A series of new firearm laws go into effect in Texas on Sunday, just hours after a shooting left seven people dead in the western part of the state.

The laws will further loosen gun restrictions in a state that's had four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, including the El Paso shooting last month, when a gunman stormed a Walmart and killed 22 people.

The new measures were all passed during the 2019 legislative session, which ended in June.

None of the measures seem relevant or, to me, objectionable.