Texas shooter sacked from job before killing 7: police
Local and federal law enforcement brief the press on September 2, 2019 in Odessa, Texas. Officials say the shooter is dead after he killed 7 people and injured 22 in the mass shooting that began with a traffic stop on August 31. CENGIZ YAR | AFP
What you need to know:
- Man who killed seven people in the US state of Texas was fired from his job prior to carrying out the shooting, law enforcement officials said on Monday.
- The assailant died in a shootout with police outside an Odessa movie theatre.
- The shooting which comes less than a month after a gunman killed 22 people in the Texas city of El Paso, less than 300 miles (480 kilometres) west of Odessa.
A man who killed seven people in the US state of Texas was fired from his job prior to carrying out the shooting, law enforcement officials said on Monday.
"Our suspect went to work at Journey Oilfield Services. He was there for a short time and was terminated by his employer," Michael Gerke, the Odessa police chief, told a news conference.
Following the dismissal, both the suspect and his former employer called police to complain "because they had a disagreement over the firing," he said.
The suspect -- identified the previous day as Seth Aaron Ator, 36 -- also called an FBI tip line but made no threats, Gerke added.
FBI special agent Christopher Combs also confirmed the firing, but said that it was not the spark for the shooting, which took place on Saturday.
"He showed up to work in a very distressed mental state, so it's not because he got fired," Combs told media.
ENRAGED ASSAILANT
"When he showed up to work, he was already enraged."
The Saturday incident began when troopers tried to pull over a gold-coloured passenger vehicle on the Interstate 20 highway.
That led to a frantic shootout spread out over several miles on roads between the cities of Midland and Odessa in the west of the state.
The assailant died in a shootout with police outside an Odessa movie theatre.
The shooting, which came less than a month after a gunman killed 22 people in the Texas city of El Paso -- less than 300 miles (480 kilometres) west of Odessa -- has ignited fresh calls for steps to stem the US scourge of mass shootings.
