Authorities say a mass shooting in West Texas began when a man being pulled over by state troopers started shooting through the rear window of his car with a rifle.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger says Saturday that one of two state troopers conducting the traffic stop was shot. She says the suspect then fled “and continued shooting innocent people,” including two other police officers.
Authorities say a total of three law enforcement officers were shot. At least five people died. There were at least 21 civilian gunshot victims.
One shooting victim, a child under the age of 2, was transferred to another facility and two others were treated and released.
Cesinger says the trooper is in serious but stable condition. The two police officers are in stable condition at a local hospital.
Cesinger says no one else was in the shooter’s vehicle.
A database shows that the West Texas shooting brings the number of mass killings in the U.S. so far this year to 25, which is as many mass killings as in all of 2018.
The AP/USATODAY/Northeastern University mass murder database also shows that depending on whether the suspect killed in West Texas is included among the five people dead Saturday, the total of victims so far this year in the U.S. either equals all of last year at 140 or falls one short at 139.
The database tracks all U.S. homicides since 2006 involving four or more people killed (not including the offender) over a short period of time (24 hours) regardless of weapon, location, victim-offender relationship or motive. The database includes information on these and other characteristics concerning the incidents, offenders, and victims.