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Death Toll Climbs in Texas Rampage, Wounded Trooper Recovering

The total number of people killed in a rampage in Texas has now reached seven, and 22 were wounded—including three responding police officers. The trooper survived "by the grace of God" and was in surgery for several hours Saturday.

September 2, 2019

Seven people are now reported to have been killed and 22 wounded—including three responding police officers—as a gunman drove to at least 15 locations and opened fire from his vehicle in Texas in a rampage Saturday.

Authorities are counting the gunman among the eight dead, and he has been publicly identified, but Odessa police Chief Michael Gerke declined to name the gunman at a news conference Sunday, reports the Dallas Morning News .

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He said he refused to give him "any notoriety for what he did."


Related: 21 People Shot, 5 Dead in West Texas Rampage


Gerke said authorities still cannot explain why the gunman opened fire when state troopers tried to pull him over on Interstate 20 for failing to signal a left turn.

The trooper survived "by the grace of God" and was in surgery for several hours Saturday, said Orlando Alanis, a regional director of the DPS. Doctors were optimistic he would recover.

Officials have not said where the gunman got the "AR-type weapon" he used Saturday. Authorities say the gunman acted alone, and they don't think the attack had any connection to domestic or international terrorism.

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Police were still working to process "well over 15" crime scenes, Gerke said, and the FBI was executing a search warrant at a home in Odessa.

Seven victims died in the rampage, and 22 were wounded, Gerke said Sunday. The deceased victims ranged in age from 15 to 57.

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