1 00:00:02,533 --> 00:00:05,100 JUDY WOODRUFF: The weekend shooting rampage in West Texas has left two more American communities 2 00:00:05,900 --> 00:00:07,900 in mourning. 3 00:00:07,900 --> 00:00:12,400 Seven people were killed in Odessa and nearby Midland on Saturday, and another 22 people 4 00:00:13,533 --> 00:00:16,733 were wounded, including a 17-month-old girl. 5 00:00:16,733 --> 00:00:21,733 It came after state troopers stopped the alleged shooter for driving his car erratically. 6 00:00:23,633 --> 00:00:27,100 He shot one of the troopers and then sped away, firing at people randomly. 7 00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:29,200 William Brangham gets an update. 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,400 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Judy, there was an emotional vigil last night for victims of the shooting. 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,700 The gunman's motive is still unknown. 10 00:00:36,700 --> 00:00:40,900 He was apparently fired from his job just before the traffic stop that started the shootings. 11 00:00:40,900 --> 00:00:45,866 This, of course, all comes less than a month since the massacre at the Walmart in El Paso 12 00:00:46,633 --> 00:00:48,333 that killed 22 people. 13 00:00:48,333 --> 00:00:51,933 Mitch Borden of Marfa Public Radio joins me from Midland via Skype. 14 00:00:51,933 --> 00:00:54,066 Mitch, thank you very much for doing this. 15 00:00:54,066 --> 00:00:58,933 Could you just tell me, first off, what we know about the seven victims who were killed 16 00:01:00,566 --> 00:01:02,566 in this rampage? 17 00:01:02,566 --> 00:01:04,700 MITCH BORDEN, Marfa Public Radio: We know they ranged in age by quite a bit, the youngest 18 00:01:04,700 --> 00:01:08,400 being 15 and the oldest being 57. 19 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,400 The youngest was a high school student, a sophomore at a local Odessa high school. 20 00:01:15,366 --> 00:01:18,833 And other than that, information is coming out slowly about the victims. 21 00:01:18,833 --> 00:01:20,833 There are fund-raisers. 22 00:01:20,833 --> 00:01:24,633 But, so far, at least from what I have seen, they haven't released a complete list of the 23 00:01:24,633 --> 00:01:26,666 names of the dead. 24 00:01:26,666 --> 00:01:29,533 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And this is such a strange type of mass shooting, where it's going sort 25 00:01:29,533 --> 00:01:33,866 of between these two cities from location to location. 26 00:01:33,866 --> 00:01:38,866 How are the two communities of Midland and Odessa doing, grappling with all of this? 27 00:01:41,333 --> 00:01:44,300 MITCH BORDEN: Just to clear things up, the traffic stop probably started in Midland County, 28 00:01:44,300 --> 00:01:46,733 but it mostly took place in Odessa. 29 00:01:46,733 --> 00:01:50,733 The shooter never went to the city limits of Midland. 30 00:01:50,733 --> 00:01:53,266 And both communities, I think, are just in shock. 31 00:01:53,266 --> 00:01:58,233 After being at the vigil last night, people are ready to heal, but people are scared. 32 00:01:58,233 --> 00:02:03,200 This happened in so many places, so quickly, so many people were affected, that, you know, 33 00:02:04,566 --> 00:02:07,366 it's only, what, two days later. 34 00:02:07,366 --> 00:02:11,166 Like, people are trying to still just understand how this happened. 35 00:02:11,166 --> 00:02:14,966 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And Governor Abbott today said we still don't know anything about the 36 00:02:14,966 --> 00:02:18,300 motive of what drove this man to act this way. 37 00:02:18,300 --> 00:02:22,600 But he did say something, that they found out something about him failing some background 38 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,200 checks for purchasing guns. 39 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,233 Can you tell us more about that? 40 00:02:26,233 --> 00:02:30,300 MITCH BORDEN: Yes, it does -- it did come out in a presser held earlier today by the 41 00:02:32,133 --> 00:02:35,200 - - by law enforcement officials that he had in the past failed a background check. 42 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,700 They didn't release any more information. 43 00:02:37,700 --> 00:02:41,866 They also said they didn't know how he obtained the assault-style weapon that he used in the 44 00:02:42,466 --> 00:02:44,500 shooting. 45 00:02:44,500 --> 00:02:46,533 Other than that, we will just have to wait for them to release more information. 46 00:02:46,533 --> 00:02:50,233 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So this massacre, following El Paso, also occurs right when a series of 47 00:02:52,366 --> 00:02:57,333 new state laws go into effect that would loosen prior gun regulations in the state of Texas. 48 00:02:58,100 --> 00:02:59,066 What are those changes? 49 00:02:59,066 --> 00:03:00,600 MITCH BORDEN: There's a lot. 50 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,933 There were eight laws that came into effect on September 1. 51 00:03:03,933 --> 00:03:08,933 But a lot of them make it easier to carry guns in certain settings, such as houses of 52 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:11,800 worship during a disaster. 53 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:16,233 One increased the amount of school marshals that can carry a firearm. 54 00:03:16,233 --> 00:03:21,200 And at a presser -- a presser yesterday, Governor Abbott addressed a crowd and talked to them 55 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,300 about action was needed, but he didn't specify what type of action. 56 00:03:24,300 --> 00:03:29,300 And when asked about, like, these regulations, he stated that some of them make situations 57 00:03:31,333 --> 00:03:34,866 safer, such as the school one, where school marshal -- more school marshals can be armed. 58 00:03:34,866 --> 00:03:39,866 So he didn't want to really engage on the idea that maybe these regulations make things 59 00:03:40,666 --> 00:03:42,666 unsafe. 60 00:03:42,666 --> 00:03:46,300 And, so far, there hasn't been any more comment around Odessa on this matter. 61 00:03:46,300 --> 00:03:50,366 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, calls for new gun control measures always follow these types 62 00:03:50,366 --> 00:03:52,000 of shootings. 63 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,733 We saw that after El Paso and Dayton, and we certainly saw it here. 64 00:03:54,733 --> 00:03:59,133 And I know former Congressman Beto O'Rourke was in the region. 65 00:03:59,133 --> 00:04:01,733 I know you were with -- I take it, with him earlier today. 66 00:04:01,733 --> 00:04:05,833 He has made much of his presidential campaign based on gun control. 67 00:04:05,833 --> 00:04:10,833 He's called for some very aggressive measures, like mandatory buybacks of assault-style weapons. 68 00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:13,700 Did he talk about that today? 69 00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:18,533 And, if so, what is your sense of, how does that play in Texas to Texas ears? 70 00:04:20,433 --> 00:04:24,200 MITCH BORDEN: You know, I -- when I saw him, he was visiting a Labor Day celebration, a 71 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:32,000 potluck at a union hall -- or, like, a celebration put on by unions. 72 00:04:33,966 --> 00:04:37,333 And he was just there trying to spread support from all of West Texas, El Paso. 73 00:04:38,666 --> 00:04:40,933 The shooting in El Paso happened less than 30 days ago. 74 00:04:40,933 --> 00:04:44,133 And it was just about trying to bring the communities together. 75 00:04:44,133 --> 00:04:47,333 And he also said action needed to be taken. 76 00:04:47,333 --> 00:04:51,266 He didn't go into, like -- and during his speech, he didn't go into the certain policies, 77 00:04:51,266 --> 00:04:55,266 but he did express like, yes, more things need to be done on a policy level. 78 00:04:55,266 --> 00:04:56,433 He wasn't shy about that. 79 00:04:56,433 --> 00:04:59,600 I don't think he's usually shy about that. 80 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,733 How that will play in Texas, I think Texas is a red state. 81 00:05:03,733 --> 00:05:08,733 I think a lot of people love guns in this state and are very protective of their Second 82 00:05:11,333 --> 00:05:12,766 Amendment rights. 83 00:05:12,766 --> 00:05:16,100 At the same time, two mass shootings in less than 30 days. 84 00:05:16,100 --> 00:05:19,900 I think some people do want change. 85 00:05:19,900 --> 00:05:24,433 And I think you can get really granular when you go into what type of change people want. 86 00:05:24,433 --> 00:05:28,800 But I think people are getting to their wit's end with this violence. 87 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,633 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Mitch Borden of Marfa Public Radio, thank you very much for your time and 88 00:05:32,633 --> 00:05:33,633 for your reporting. 89 00:05:33,633 --> 00:05:33,766 MITCH BORDEN: Thank you.