Chilling footage of people fleeing the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa, Texas and seeking cover on the ground as gunfire rings out in the background has surfaced online.
Also on rt.com Texas shooting: What we know about the Odessa gun rampageA gunman went on a deadly shooting spree after he was pulled over for a traffic stop by state troopers on the interstate between Midland and Odessa, reportedly, for failing to signal a left turn. The incident sparked a major car chase that eventually led to the suspect, said to be a white male in his 30s, being shot dead by police near the Cinergy movie theater at the Music City Mall in Odessa. An eyewitness video has emerged showing the suspect in a hijacked postal van ramming a police vehicle at full speed moments before he was taken down.
The final phase of the manhunt, which took place on Sunday afternoon when shopping malls and cinemas were bustling with visitors, triggered panic as people scrambled to take cover outside.
A video shot inside the cinema shows people running, apparently towards the exits. A woman can be heard exclaiming: “Oh, my God,” as panic-stricken people sprint past her.
Dozens of people can be seen dashing out of the theater as police with guns drawn move towards the entrance of the building in the video, filmed from a car parked outside of the cinema.
Another distressing video shows people, among them small children and women, lying on bare ground in a field. The women in the video, purportedly filmed outside the mall, can be seen shielding their crying children with their own bodies. A man, apparently a father of one of the terrified children, is seen trying to calm everybody down.
In yet another unsettling video, a young woman is screaming and gasping for air as rapid-fire shots pierce the surroundings. The woman herself uploaded the video of the ordeal on Twitter. In the caption accompanying the footage, she wrote that she was “really terrified” and that she could only think about her two children, who were at her mother’s at the time.
“This is something no one should ever experience. I am so sorry to all the family victims who were hurt in this terrible act of hatred!”
At least seven people died and over two dozen were shot in the incident. The motive and identity of the gunman are so far unknown.
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