At least 5 killed, 21 injured in Texas shooting

ANKARA

At least five people were killed and 21 others injured in shootings in the southern U.S. state of Texas, police said on Saturday.

“We have at least 21 shooting victims and at least five deceased at this point of time,” Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said in a news conference, aired by local media.

Meanwhile, Midland Police Department confirmed that the active shooter was shot and killed at the Cinergy in Odessa.

“There is no active shooter at this time. All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects,” the department said in a statement.

In a Twitter post, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was briefed by Attorney General William Barr about the shootings in Texas.

“FBI and Law Enforcement is fully engaged. More to follow,” Trump tweeted.

Earlier, the police warned that a gunman who hijacked a U.S. mail truck is roaming the streets of Odessa and Midland cities.

A subject (possibly 2) is currently driving around Odessa shooting at random people,” a Odessa Police Department statement had said.

In a separate statement issued earlier, the Midland Police Department had said they believe there are two shooters in two separate vehicles.

However, when asked about multiple shooters, Gerke said: "There have been reports. That's possible but again there is no confirmation."

Also on Saturday, at least 10 teenagers were injured in a shooting during a football game in the southern U.S. state of Alabama, according to local media.

The incidents came less than a month after a deadly racist shooting in El Paso, Texas that killed 22 people and injured 24 others. It brought fresh calls for tighter gun control in the U.S., which sees more gun deaths per capita than any other industrialized nation.