On Friday, two people, including the attacker, lost their lives and ten were injured in a shooting in Midland, Texas. The incident required several hours of intervention by members of the tactical SWAT team, who surrounded the building where the gunman barricaded himself. TASR informs about it based on reports from the AP agency and NBC News.
The police received the first report of the shooting shortly after 08:00 local time (15:00 CEST). According to local police chief Greg Snow, the incident started in the southeastern part of the city and the shooter gradually moved toward the southwest.
The main part of the attack and the subsequent confrontation took place in an industrial area on West Wall Street. According to witnesses from nearby establishments, the least amount fell 40 shots. The city announced shortly after 12:35 p.m. local time (7:35 p.m. CET) that the shooter is dead and the situation is under control.
Midland Mayor Lori Blong said at a press conference that the situation was complicated by the outage of the Facebook platform, which made it impossible for the police to effectively inform the public. The authorities therefore referred citizens to the X network.
Nine injured were taken to the local Midland Memorial Hospital – four had to undergo emergency surgery immediatelythe remaining five are in stable condition. One injured person went to a hospital in the nearby city of Odessa.
The authorities have not yet released the identity of the perpetrator or his mottoiv. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are also involved in the investigation.
Midland and neighboring Odessa were also the scene of mass shootings in September 2019, when a man who had been fired from his job killed seven people and injured more than 20. Texas is among the states with the most liberal gun laws. From 2021, it allows the carrying of short weapons without a permit.
