With no motive has yet been established behind the shooting rampage in West Texas, that saw gunman Seth A. Ator killing seven people and injuring over 20, a new report suggests he went ballistic after losing his truck-driving job.
The shooter was fired from a job in a trucking company mere hours before he opened fire at a state trooper when pulled over for failing to signal a turn at around 3:17 pm local time Saturday, the New York Times reported, citing police sources. Without disclosing the company’s name, the sources said that the gunman had been given a sack in the morning of that very day. Whether it was what had set Ator off is up to speculation, with police remaining tight-lipped about the shooter’s motive.
However, if that turns out to be the case, it would not be the first time a disgruntled former employee flips out and goes on a shooting spree. In an Aurora, Illinois, shooting in February, Gary Martin gunned down five of his colleagues after being fired from his job of 15 years at a manufacturing company. Like Ator, Martin had a criminal record.
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In 2001, the Odessa gunman was arrested on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and evading arrest. There were also reports that he brandished his rifle in front of a neighbor, while admonishing her for leaving trash at a nearby dumpster.
After injuring the state trooper, Ator proceeded to move towards Odessa while shooting at motorists at random. Photos of bullet-ridden cars at various locations across the city have surfaced online, with police saying that are investigating over 15 crimes scenes, including at a car dealership and at a shopping mall. At one point of the chase, the gunman switched cars, hijacking a postal van and killing a female mail carrier’s driver.
The gunman was eventually taken down at Cinergy Movie Theater in Odessa. The showdown between the suspect and the police saw a police vehicle ramming the suspect’s van and a tense shootout between the officers and the gunman.
Police initially refused to identify the suspect, saying that they do not want to give him any publicity, and prompting some to accuse law enforcement of a racial bias after the shooter was initally identified as a “white male in his thirties.”
Later, however, Odessa Police Department confirmed on Facebook that the shooter was, in fact, Ator, 36.
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