ODESSA, Texas (AP) – Authorities say the gunman in a West Texas rampage was fired from his job and called both police and the FBI before the mass shooting began.
Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said Monday that 36-year-old Seth Aaron Ator had been fired over the weekend from Journey Oil Field Services. He said both Ator and the company called 911 after being fired Saturday but that Ator was gone by the time police showed up. FBI special agent Christopher Combs says Ator’s statements on the FB tip line were “rambling.”
Ator was stopped 15 minutes later by a Texas state trooper on an interstate for failing to signal a lane change. Authorities say Ator opened fire on the troopers and fled, shooting at random passers-by and vehicles.
Police gunned down Ator at a movie theater in Odessa to end the chase.
Earlier Monday, Governor Greg Abbott says the criminal history of a man who killed seven people in West Texas this weekend means “we must keep guns out of criminals’ hands.”
Abbott tweeted that Ator failed a previous gun background check and didn’t go through one for the weapon he used in Odessa. But Abbott didn’t elaborate on when Ator failed the background check or the reasons why.
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