TV Report: Active shooter(s) in Midland and Odessa Texas, Aug. 31, 2019 (illegal, drugs)

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

Damn. What in the hell is going on in this country?

I'm very curious to see what the motives are for this attack. And whether that will change the level of outrage we see from both sides.

Every mass shooting inspires the next.

[Roboteer]

So, where do people get the idea that government can do anything to stop or prevent shootings like this?

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by Roboteer

And if you find that one of the shooters woke up this morning, saw a red bird in a green tree, and decided from that to go out and shoot a bunch of people, how would this information help you to curb this mess?

These shooters range from nutty to stark raving insane. Many of them do it for "reasons" we don't even see as reasons.

Many of them do it because they have something wrong inside their heads. And no sane, reasonable person can possibly detect that "Hey, look, that guy over there has something wrong inside his head that will make him commit mass murder next week!"

It can help. Not that it will help in every situation. And I already gave an example of where it can help in an earlier post.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Roboteer

So, where do people get the idea that government can do anything to stop or prevent shootings like this?

Oh, please. We are the only country on the planet that lives like this. We all know damn well why.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Per The Sun article linked earlier:

A Texas state trooper is among those who have been shot although his condition is unknown, CBS News reports.

The shooting was "planned by a group", police sources told News West 9.

On Facebook, Odessa Police wrote: "A subject (possibly 2) is currently driving around Odessa shooting at random people.

"At this time there are multiple gunshot victims. The suspect just hijacked a US Mail carrier truck.”

What group? How do they know it was planned by a group? What evidence have they gathered?

I'm very suspicious of these shootings in Texas lately. Call it a gut feeling - I feel like Texas is being targeted for a reason.

Regardless of what I think, I want to know what group planned this and what their motive was.

Oh, also it says 5 killed, more than 20 injured, multiple cops in that 20+ (latest update as of this post.)

[Partial Observer]

Originally Posted by Roboteer

So, where do people get the idea that government can do anything to stop or prevent shootings like this?

Everyone knows that if we confiscated guns, people would just drive around shopping centers throwing knives at people.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Roboteer

And if you find that one of the shooters woke up this morning, saw a red bird in a green tree, and decided from that to go out and shoot a bunch of people, how would this information help you to curb this mess?

These shooters range from nutty to stark raving insane. Many of them do it for "reasons" we don't even see as reasons.

Many of them do it because they have something wrong inside their heads. And no sane, reasonable person can possibly detect that "Hey, look, that guy over there has something wrong inside his head that will make him commit mass murder next week!"

They need two things: motivation and means. The motivation, as you say is so varied and hard to discern. The means, though, the means we can do something about.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Roboteer

So, where do people get the idea that government can do anything to stop or prevent shootings like this?

Killing the shooter today saved many lives going forward.

[ddeemo]

Sounds like not really planned attack, apparently a traffic stop was what started this with the suspect shooting the patrol officer that stopped him.

[msgsing]

Motivation unknown at this point. Wouldn't be shocked if this another White Nationalist killing spree aimed at minorities. But in the end we'll just have to wait for details.