The shots of a mid-30-year-old killed at least five people and injured more than 20 others. The rampage in the south of the country has revived the debate in the US about a reform of the weapons law.
Several Presidential Democrats demanded a drastic tightening of the rules governing the sale of firearms. "Enough, we have to put an end to this epidemic," said Democratic presumptive presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Similar words were chosen by his party competitor Kamala Harris: "I'm sick of it, America is tired of it, we have to act." Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted to the Republican Majority Leader in the Second Chamber, Mitch McConnell: "Every day you wait, more tragedies happen. Do something."
The alleged perpetrator had evidently fired at random from a car on Saturday night in the cities of Midland and Odessa, before the police finally shot him dead. His motive is also unclear hours later. There are also three police officers among the injured.
Governor Abbott speaks of "senseless and cowardly attack"
The killing spree had started according to police with a normal traffic control, in which the suspect suddenly opened fire on a police officer. After that, he drove on to Odessa, continued to shoot. Odessa's Mayor David Turner told broadcaster Fox News that the shooter fired on a restaurant and shot at a shopping area.
US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that Justice Secretary William Barr had informed him of the incident. The Federal Police FBI was also turned on. Trump has not commented on the act itself yet. While many Democrats made their condolences in response to demands for a reform of the weapons law, republican politicians confined themselves to condoling.
American civil rights activists have long accused Trump's party of being too close to the US arms lobby. In the US, weapons are usually very easy to buy. People are regularly shot in schools, shopping malls or on the street. Thousands of people die each year as a result of firearms use.
Jacy Lewis / Reporter Telegram / AP / dpa
Policemen in front of a shopping mall in Odessa: motive unclear
At the beginning of August, a gunman killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas. He acted on his own account for racist reasons. In Dayton, Ohio, a man also shot himself and killed many people. Efforts tougher arms laws have so far but without consequences.
In Texas, the weapons rules are even looser than in most other states. The recent incident condemned Governor Greg Abbott as a "pointless and cowardly attack". He will not allow Texas to be overrun by "hatred and violence."
On Twitter, Abbott was promptly confronted with a tweet from October 2015. At the time, he wrote that he was "ashamed" of the fact that Texas was the second-largest nation in US statistics on new weapons purchases behind California. His conclusion at the time: "Let's get a tooth, Texan."
