The white man in his 21s, who killed four people and wounded XNUMX in the two West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa on Saturday, was previously known to police, authorities said.
The attacker was stopped by the police in the vehicle and he started shooting, he wounded the policeman and fled and on the way from one city to another he abandoned the vehicle, stole a postal van and killed four people by shooting randomly at policemen, drivers and passers-by.
He was killed in an armed confrontation with the police in front of a cinema in Odessa.
Authorities initially believed there were two attackers in two vehicles, but Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said at a news conference Saturday night that he was believed to be alone.
The attacker was on his way from Midland to Odessa when the police stopped him on the way a little after 15:XNUMX local time, Gerke said. He shot the policeman and then fled in a vehicle towards Odesa. He drove to the Home Dipo store where he opened fire on passers-by.
"At one point, he stole a postal van and left his vehicle," said Gerke.
He continued to drive followed by the police before crashing into a parked vehicle near a cinema in Odessa, where he was killed in an exchange of fire with the police, according to American media reports.
In the released video, moviegoers can be seen screaming and running away.
Gerke said that the attacker was known to the police from before, but he did not want to speculate about possible motives for the attack.
The attacker was armed with a rifle, police said.
Bonus video:
