This archive report was first published on 3 September 2019.
On September 2, 2019, a deadly shooting occurred in Texas, leaving seven people dead.
According to law enforcement officials, the shooter, identified as Seth Aaron Ator, 36, was fired from his job at Journey Oilfield Services prior to the incident.
"Our suspect went to work at Journey Oilfield Services. He was there for a short time and was terminated by his employer," said Michael Gerke, the Odessa police chief.
Following the dismissal, both the suspect and his former employer called police to complain about the firing, citing a disagreement.
However, FBI special agent Christopher Combs clarified that the firing was not the trigger for the shooting, which occurred on Saturday, September 1, 2019.
"He showed up to work in a very distressed mental state, so it's not because he got fired," Combs said.
"When he showed up to work, he was already enraged," he added.
The shooting began when troopers tried to pull over a gold-coloured passenger vehicle on the Interstate 20 highway, leading to a chaotic shootout that spanned several miles between Midland and Odessa.
The assailant died in a shootout with police outside an Odessa movie theatre.
The incident has sparked renewed calls for measures to address the issue of mass shootings in the US.
