The death toll in a west Texas shooting rampage has increased to seven as authorities investigate why a man stopped by state troopers for failing to signal a left turn opened fire on them.
He then fled, shooting more than 20 people as he drove before being killed by officers outside a cinema.
Police in the town of Odessa said the man had been identified as Seth Aaron Ator. They posted the update on Facebook.
They said he was 36 and from Odessa. They did not give any additional information.
Odessa police chief Michael Gerke had earlier refused to publicly say the name of the gunman during a national televised news conference on Sunday, saying he did not want to give the shooter notoriety.
He had described the gunman as a white male in his 30s, and authorities told reporters that the gunman had a criminal record but did not go into detail
Those killed ranged in age from 15 to 57, Mr Gerke said.
Authorities have no definitive answers yet about a motive in Saturday’s shooting, which left 22 others injured, including three law enforcement officials, Mr Gerke added.
Christopher Combs, FBI special agent in charge, said authorities did not believe there was any connection to terrorism.
‘Innocent civilians’
The shooting began with an interstate traffic stop where gunfire was exchanged with police, setting off a chaotic rampage during which the suspect hijacked a postal service vehicle and fired at random as he drove in the area of Odessa and Midland.
The two cities are in the heart of Texas oil country, more than 300 miles west of Dallas.
Authorities said they were processing more than 15 scenes as part of their investigation.
The suspect shot “at innocent civilians all over Odessa”, according to a statement from Odessa police.
The terrifying chain of events began when state troopers tried pulling over a gold car on Interstate 20 for failing to signal a left turn, Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said.
Before the vehicle came to a complete stop, the driver “pointed a rifle towards the rear window of his car and fired several shots” towards the patrol car stopping him.
The gunshots struck one of two troopers inside the patrol car, Ms Cesinger said, after which the gunman fled and continued shooting.
Two other police officers were shot before the suspect was killed. The condition of the three law enforcement officers injured was not immediately released.
Witnesses described gunfire near shopping plazas and at busy intersections.
Shauna Saxton was one of the terrified drivers who said she encountered the gunman during his rampage.
Ms Saxton was driving with her husband and grandson in Odessa and had paused at traffic lights when they heard loud pops.
“I looked over my shoulder to the left and the gold car pulled up and the man was there and he had a very large gun and it was pointing at me,” she told TV station KOSA.
Suspect killed
Ms Saxton said she was trapped because there were two cars in front of her.
“I started honking my horn. I started swerving and we got a little ahead of him and then for whatever reason the cars in front of me kind of parted,” she said, sobbing. She said she heard three more shots as she sped away.
The cinema where the suspect was killed is more than 10 miles from where state troopers originally pulled over the gunman.
The shooting comes just four weeks after a gunman in the Texas border city of El Paso killed 22 people after opening fire at a Walmart.
Texas governor Greg Abbott this week held two meetings with lawmakers about how to prevent more mass shootings in Texas.
The shooting brings the number of mass killings in the US so far this year to 25, matching the number in all of 2018, according to the AP/USA Today/Northeastern University mass murder database.
Mr Abbott said a 17-month-old girl who sustained injuries to her face and chest in the shooting rampage was recovering but faced surgery.
He said the child suffered injuries to her bottom lip, tongue and front teeth and needed surgery to remove shrapnel from her chest.
Vice-president Mike Pence said following the shooting that President Donald Trump and his administration “remain absolutely determined” to work with leaders in both parties in Congress to take steps “so we can address and confront this scourge of mass atrocities in our country”.
Trump contradictions
Mr Pence said Mr Trump had spoken to the attorney general and that the FBI was assisting local law enforcement.
Mr Trump has offered contradictory messages in reacting to recent mass shootings.
Days after the El Paso shooting, he said he was eager to implement “very meaningful background checks” on guns and told reporters there was “tremendous support” for action. He later backed away, saying the current system of background checks was “very, very strong”.
Most recently, Mr Trump has called for greater attention to mental health, saying that new facilities are needed for the mentally ill as a way to reduce mass shootings.
However, some mental health professionals say such thinking is outdated, that linking mental illness to violence is wrong, and that the impact of more treatment would be helpful overall but would have a minor impact on gun violence. – (AP)