>> a growing death toll in the tragic west texas shooting, at least seven people are dead with several others injured, and thiess one of the wounded is in life-threatening condition. welcome to "america's news headquarters" from washington, i'm kristin fisher. leland: what's shocking now at about 1 p.m. eastern, 24 hours or so after the shootings began, with is how little we know about the suspect or his motive. i'm leland vittert in new york. it all started with a traffic stop, but the gunman never stopped. authorities are still investigating exactly why he started shooting at two texas state troopers before even pulling over. alicia acuna is in texas right

now, arrived in odessa late last night, with more. hi, alicia. >> reporter: the texas department of transportation says their troopers were pulling over this driver because he wasn't using a left-hand turn signal, but before -- as you mentioned -- his car came to a stop, he started shooting, injuring one of the troopers inside. to december saw police department says when the driver, who's described as a white man in his 30s, took off west 20 miles to odessa, once he got here, he shot multiple people and stole a mail truck. it ended at the synergy movie theater where he shot two more police officers before he was taken down by law enforcement. there was plenty of video that was fed in by witnesses all along the way, absolutely horrifying. the president was briefed as events unfolded late yesterday afternoon. earlier he tweeted and also spoke about the incident today saying that he commended law enforcement for all the work that they did. he's continuing to get updates

on this. and governor greg abbott of texas said that he he is visiting odessa today. we are expecting a news conference, leland, it was something that was supposed to happen earlier this year, then about the top of this hour, it has been moved again, so it's kind of a fluid situation in terms of how they're distributing the information. the big question right now is exactly why this happened, how did a simple traffic stop turn into something so violent and so deadly. and incidentally, this shooting happened just one day after governor abbott held his first meeting for his domestic terrorism task force, something that was created out of the mass shooting that happened in el paso just last month where 22 people were killed. leland? leland: all right. alicia acuna with, obviously, back to odessa as that news conference happens, when it happens. with that, we bring in ted williams, former d.c. homicide detective, former federal agent as well and fox news contributor. ted, you think about this with multiple scenes, it all ended

within an hour. this is one of the more, for lack of a better word, bizarre mass shootings, running gun battles we've heard about in a long time. >> you're absolutely right, leland. i cannot think of but one incident, and that was the freeway beltway phantom here in washington, d.c. where there was this kind of a shooting. what happened here is law enforcement was on this immediately, and yet there was excellent work done by law enforcement officers to bring this shooter down -- leland: what does it tell you that now, almost 24 hours after the shooting began -- 23 hours, 21 to be exact -- that we still don't have a name of this suspect? >> well, you know, and i heard you yesterday, and i think what is the chief of police, they know who the suspect is from the news conference they had yesterday. they are now doing a full

investigation, and at this stage they're trying to make sure that they give accurate information to the public. and i think that's what's going on behind the scenes right now, but they clearly know who the shooter is. leland: what do you make of the fact that this person was shooting people at stoplights? the mayor of odessa yesterday said that one of his good friends, a fellow church member, died. and you can see there the cars on the sides of the roads with bullet holes in them. does this sound like a planned mass shooting, or does this sound like a traffic stop and then someone trying to create diversions by creating mayhem? >> well, you know, i hate to speculate, but i would have to say that it appears as though the shooter did not expect to have been stopped by those texas state troopers. once he was stopped, he immediately started firing on him, on them. there was two of them in a patrol car. he took off, and i don't really

know if it was a diversionary tactic for him to start shooting. and my rationale behind that is because he continued to draw attention to himself. and so, but it was a cold-blooded killer. it's a different kind of a mass shooting. as you know, leland, we've dealt with mass shootings at a one-focus location. and in this mass shooting, this was a mobile mass shooting. and that is the certainly something that makes it very difficult for law enforcement to wrap their heads aroundment. leland: -- around. leland: what do you make of how much ammunition this guy would have had on him to carry out what had to have been dozens, if not hundreds of shots? >> leland, i would have to believe that this person was using a semiautomatic weapon, because from all we know is that as he was riding down interstate

20 there outside of odessa, he was shooting at individuals, and there are people who believe that he was reloading and shooting at them. so, and when you look at the fact that there were 19 that are injured now and at least 7 dead, that tells me that the person was possibly armed with an automatic weapon. leland: yeah. the texas department of public safety said that it was a rifle of some sort, though did not describe exactly what kind. the mayor of to december is -- odessa called this guy a coward, the police chief slightly less generous and called him an animal, descriptions i don't think you would take issue with. ted williams with us, there's a news conference scheduled here sometime this afternoon. we'll come back to you out of that and get your thoughts. thank you, sir, as always. kristin: hurricane dorian is about to batter the bahamas as

it grows into a major category five storm and continues to pose a threat to the southeast united states in the coming days. fox chief meteorologist rick reichmuth is in the extreme weather center with more. >> reporter: it's battering. it's happening in the northern bahamas. the ab cat islands here, marsh harbour. the center of the storm is moving right over that right now. it is moving at about 8 miles an hour, it's going to continue to slow that movement over the next 24 hours, so we're probably going to be talking about these islands in the northwestern bahamas hard dealing with hurricane conditions for probably 24-36 hours, and in some cases major hurricane winds. probably will have winds gusting over 200 miles an hour right now and sustained, it's now up to 185 miles an hour. the pressure is at 9.11 millibars, gives us a sense of how strong the sense is. when you go to strongest storms we've ever seen by wind, alan

was 190 miles an hour. there's been a few storms that were at 185 miles per hour, but you think of these ones that were really destructive like katrina and andrew, their strongest winds were 175. so this is stronger than that, and it is getting really, really closes to florida. so in the short term, we've got the bahamas -- and i say short term meaning now until about the next 36 hours -- but if you're over here in florida and you've got a storm of this magnitude very close to the coast, we have to start wondering when it's going to make that turn. we'll see bands that move through and bring showers, winds into the 20 miles an hour along the coast of florida. that's not our big concern. the concern is the storm that we know will make a right-hand turn, but 5 miles one direction, 5 miles another direction is going to have really big impacts here. we do have all kinds of hurricane watches in effect now for florida. if you're in that area, be prepared this could be on your shore very shortly.

guys, back to you. kristin: hard to imagine a storm of that magnitude hitting the bahamas right now. rick reichmuth, thanks. joining me now from miami, member of the house rules committee, congresswoman chalet la. one of the signatures of this storm has been its unpredictability, the cone of uncertainty is even more uncertain than usual. so what is your message to people living in the state who might think that they are out of the woods? >> no one's out of the woods in florida or in georgia or north carolina or south carolina. we have to prepare for the worst. florida is a very experienced state when it comes to hurricanes, but this one is horrendous, and preparing for the worst is exactly what we must do here. kristin: do you feel that your state, from the local responders all the way up to fema, federal responders, is everybody ready? >> i believe we are ready, but no one is ever ready for a

category five or a category four hurricane. and we've had them before, hurricane andrew and others that followed that one. we certainly have changed our building codes, people are experienced in this state, but you can never be experienced enough for this level of winds and rain and water. we're particularly concerned about flooding. i know you're going to have the mayor of miami beach which is already seeing some flooding in miami beach. we have at the same time king tides which are the highest tides. so flooding and wind and rain combined with what we're going to experience as the hurricane comes out of the bahamas, everybody's got to be prepared for the worst kind of experience we've ever had here in florida. kristin: congresswoman, this is been a lot of criticism from

democrats about the decision to divert some funding from fema to i.c.e. and the border in the middle of hurricane season, but this morning the acting secretary of homeland security said that it is not a problem, he says these transfer of funds from fema will not impact the agency's response to hurricane dorian. are you worried about that at all? >> of course i am. it's a silly thing to do during -- and a destructive thing to do during hurricane season. kristin: even though thing acting secretary says it's not going to impact their response? it still worries you? >> he has no idea whether it will impact their response because he has not been through one of these horrific hurricanes. democrats and republicans in the house of representatives will make sure that the resources are there. so the president can transfer resources, and we will make sure the resources are there. but no one knows what kind of preparation it takes for this

level, and the resources will be there, and i can assure people, when we get back, we'll make sure they're there. kristin: congresswoman, i quickly want to shoot to this latest shooting in west texas, this mass shooting. congress is about to get back into session. are you at all confident that this time around congress is going to be able to pass some kind of bipartisan legislation in terms of gun control? >> we have already passed bipartisan legislation for background checks in the house of representatives. it's sitting over at the senate. they need to schedule and pass it. in addition, the bipartisan judiciary committee will meet as soon as we get back on september 9th and are going to work on three additional pieces of legislation including red flag, reducing the number of bullets in these magazines from 100 to 10 and other legislation that has to do with misdemeanors of

hate crimes, preventing those people from buying weapons. kristin: but the bipartisan compromise is absolutely critical, where do you see potential point for compromise between republicans and democrats on this issue? >> i think republicans and democrats in the house have already demonstrate that they can pull together. it's now time for the senate to act. and for the president to step up and stop going back and forth on whether he's for background checks or for new investments in gun safety. we need the president and the senate to step up. kristin: the president has said he's open to some kind of meaningful background checks but not universal background checks, so we'll see, we'll see how this goes over the next few days. congresswoman, thank you. leland. >> you're welcome. let me also say that our heart goes out to people in west texas, and our prayers are with them. kristin: of course. of course. congresswoman, thank you again

and best of luck riding out this storm over the next few days. leland: all right. we pick up the conversation with republican tennessee congressman, member of the house appropriations committee, chuck fleischmann. good to see you, sir, from chattanooga. appreciate it. where are you on this? is there now greater pressure on republicans and on the president to pass something out of the senate? >> not at all. i thought the house was overreaching. i voted against those measures in the house. unfortunately, the democrats have overpoliticized an issue that should not be politicized. they've entrenched themselves with their far-left allies. let's face it, we have problems in this country with violence, we have problems with mental illness, we have problems with all weapons; knives, cars if they're used -- leland: understood, understood. there's not a lot of people being murdered every year or murdered every day by cars or by

knives, more so by knives, but certainly much more so by guns. >> well, let me make it clear, the problem is not guns -- leland: okay. you say the house has overreached. >> yes. leland: what specifically about the bills that were passed out of the house that are now at the senate level to do you have a problem with? >> several areas of both bills. let me say this, if the democrats really wanted to get down to work and work in a bipartisan fashion, we would look at the core problems of what's going on in this country. there's violence, violence created by the radical left in this country whether it's from the left or the right, violence, hateful rhetoric has got to be stopped -- leland: congressman, you still haven't told me, congressman, you still haven't told me what specific problems you have with the two bills that are now at the senate level. >> in a nutshell, overreaching, broad and detrimental to rights of the second amendment which our founding fathers have insured for all american

citizens. we will not let the radical left politicize this issue. they cannot win on this issue. leland: again though, you say overreaching. what about the bills that offer more background checks, what about that overreaches? >> there are over 20,000 -- sure. there are over 20,000 state and federal laws on the books dealing with gun control. there are so many laws that are not even being enforced. the democrats know this. these two bills, they knew, would be dead on arrival in the senate. we basically have seen them overreach time time again on gun control. the american people know what the problem is, it's violence, it's mental illness, it's the lack of civility that we're seeing -- leland: given the current political climate, the president has said that he's onboard for meaningful background checks. there was this huge push after el paso and dayton. do you worry that certain members of the republican caucus are going to go soft on this, and potentially the president's

going to sign it? >> not at all. i think the republicans and especially the president, the president has monitored this situation very well. whether it's homeland security, whether it's keeping our borders safe, whether it's dealing with the horrors of this potential storm, president trump is very bright, he's astute, he is hands-on, and and he's leading this country in a meaningful way. he understands the second amendment, he understands how important it is to my constituents in east tennessee and all across this nation. leland: he said he's open and supports more background checks, and from what i hear from you, it seems as though you're against that. >> well, i'd have to actually see what is being proposed, but there's a slippery slope here -- leland: let me ask the question a different way, is there any additional gun control measures -- background checks, red flag laws, etc. -- that you right now would support. if so, what are they? >> i think we have more than enough laws on the books, over

20,000 state and federal laws dealing with gun control and gun regulations. enough is enough. i think we need to look right at the second amendment and say this is our fundamental right. i've talked to many of my constituents in my 11 counties in this recess. they have told me time and time again, please, congressman, protect our second amendment rights. plain and simple. there's enough laws on the books. we've got to change our hearts, not the laws. leland: an important perspective, and we hear what with you say, we hear what your constituents say as well. you and they are not alone in this country, sir. appreciate it. good to see you, safe travels back to washington. >> happy labor day to everyone. leland: kristin? kristin: new tariffs on over $100 billion worth of can chinese goods goes into effect today even as the president says talks with china could resume this month. more on this coming up. ♪ ♪

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leland: and a fox news alert, live picts from odessa, texas, about 21 hours since the bullets started flying. we're awaiting a news conference from to december saw police department and the mayor there, hoping to learn the name of the suspect involved in this

shooting. the suspect is now dead. that news conference was supposed to happen at the top of the hour, and now we wait for more details. noteworthy that we are going to probably hear from the mayor of to december saw, texas, who yesterday on this air talked about losing one of his good friends who was sitting at a traffic light and was shot and killed by the suspect as he ran from police and then hijacked a mail truck. back to odessa, texas, when they take the podium. ♪ kristin: president trump's new tariffs on more than $100 billion worth of chinese goods goes into effect today. further escalating the ongoing trade war with beijing. kevin corke is live at the white house with the hatest and, kevin, this -- latest and this escalation is one that u.s. consumers are likely really going to feel. >> reporter: well, red, you're right about that, especially when you think about holiday

time, right? you're going to buy lots of goods, a great many made in china. but keep this in mind, china started this many, many years ago with unfair trade practices like forced technology transfers. that's the white house's view. and so nowings as you know, president trump has repeatedly said this has cost the american consumer hundreds of billions of dollars, and now it is time for a trade reset or more tariffs will hit the chinese. let me take you inside the numbers. more trade tariffs coming online right now, we're talking about later today more tariffs set to hit imports valued at about $111 billion, hitting chinese imports like tools, apparel, footwear and electronics and other items. by the way, that's not all. additional tariffs on 15% of another $156 billion worth of smartphones, laptops and toys, video games and other products, that's set to land in december right after the holiday purchasing season for american importers. the president is convinced, as you know, kristin, that despite

the tariff back and forth, talks will continue, and they will move forward because china needs to make a deal. >> we are talking to china. the meeting is still on, as you know, for september. that hasn't changed. they haven't changed it, we haven't. we'll see what happens. we can't allow china to rip us off anymore as a country. we can't allow china to take $500 billion a year out of our country. we can't do that. >> reporter: so there you heard the president's perspective. however, there are critics out there of the president's tariffs on trade strategy, notably the afl-cio and the u.s. chamber of commerce with some labor leaders, kristin, applauding the fight but panning the tariff tactic. >> it's a good thing, taking on china. unfortunately, he's done it the wrong way. to take on china, there has to be a multilateral approach. one country can't take on china to try to dry up its overcapacity because they just send it through you in other ways.

if you're going to take on china, it has to be multilateral. >> reporter: right now the u.s. is running point on this while our european trade a partners and others around the globe are saying, go get 'em, usa, because ultimately this may work out as a a template for other economies around the globe. the chinese have hit us with another $75 billion worth of tariffs, that means the fight will likely continue for some time to come. kristin: yeah, indeed it does. ken cork, thank so much. kevin corke, thank you so much. we are just moments away, we believe, from this press conference in texas that we have been waiting for all day long to learn a lot more about this horrible shooting that happened yesterday which left seven people dead, nineteen people shot including three law enforcement officers and, leland, as you know, there are so many questions that we are hoping to get answered in this press conference. things like what are the identities of the victims, the identity of the gunman, what was his possible motive and perhaps

even a little bit more on the weapon that he used to carry out this horrific series of crimes. leland: yeah. it's such an unusual situation that happened down there. we understand that it started with a traffic stop, but the suspect never actually stopped his car. he just started shooting at the texas state patrolmen who tried to pull him over. we see now greg abbott, the governor, walk out. folks from the department of public safety e and then i recognize the gentleman there as the chief of police of to december saw, texas, and we will listen in when greg abbott starts speaking. as you know, kristin, so many more questions than answers just about 23 hours after the first shots were fires and then an hour-long running gun battle between odessa and midland, texas, that stretched about 20 miles. and important to keep in mind that during this time this suspect not only shot at law enforcement and shot three police officers, but also shot at random cars, shot and killed

people at stoplights -- kristin: small children. leland: -- and hijacked a mail truck. >> yesterday, august 31st, was saturday. should have been a great day, a long holiday weekend. we had something happen that we never would wish on anyone. the texas department of public safety made an initial traffic stop at about 3:15 on i-20 yesterday afternoon, and that trooper was shot during that traffic stop. our subject then proceeded into the city of to december saw -- odessa.

over a period of time, he created several more victims. initially, it was thought that there may have been multiple shooters, and that is because at some point this subject changed vehicles. we are now confident that this was just the one actor. this is an ongoing investigation, it is active, there are still multiple crime scenes that are being worked. there are no definitive answers as to motive or reasons at this point, but we are fairly certain that the subject did act alone. you'll notice that i'm not naming this subject.

and there's a reason for that. i refuse to. i'm not going to give him any notoriety for what he did. we'll provide that information to you but not in this public statement. as we stand, 22 people were injured, 3 of them law enforcement. very, very sadly, 7 people have been killed, 7 of our citizens. those 7 victims have ranged in ages from 15 years to 57. very sincerely i say to those families, i offer my apologies and my condolences. my heart aches for all of you. i ask the city of odessa, the state of texas and the nation to, please, lift up your hearts and send us your prayers. i thank everyone who has already done that.

there has been a tremendous outpouring. just to the local audience, please, with your show of support, you're going to the crime scenes and you're dropping off food and water, and that is much appreciated, but it is also entering an investigation, so please, if we could stop that and just bring that stuff to a central location here, that would be great. also want to thank a all the support we've gotten from other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. the outpouring of resources has been amazing. the cooperation while this incident was ongoing was amazing. please understand this is a different type of active shooter that we were involved with because he was mobile.

and that is, that create some very special -- created some very special type of issues. so my thanks go out to our brothers and sisters in midland with the county sheriff's office, the university of texas police department, the independent school district police department and, i mean, i could sit here all day and name those agencies, those local agencies and state agencies that helped out. my heart is just filled with gratitude to each and every one of those professionals. to close out, i would invite everyone in the community to join us here this evening at uttb for a prayer vigil which will start at 7 p.m. >> chief, thank you. >> thank you. >> we're proud of you. as you all know, the lives of

the people in odessa and the entire permian basin region have been shattered over the past 24 hours. hearts have been broken. we want people in the permian basin to know that all of texans stand with you and embrace you at this time of challenge. we are here today, and we'll be here every day until this community is pieced back together. but we know that words alone are inadequate. words must be met with action. i want to thank the police chief for his tireless efforts over the past 24 hours in the robust and heroic response that he and his fellow law enforcement agencies and officers utilized to bring the gunman down and to

quickly deescalate the challenge and to literally save lives that could have been lost had it not been for the action of the collaborative effort by law enforcement. along those lines, we cannot thank enough all of the first responders from all of the law enforcement agencies involved in this process to insure that they were going to be able to do what was necessary to restore safety in this community. as governor, i particularly want to thank the texas department of public safety for what they did. and that is there is no such thing as a routine stop. the way all this began, what would have been a routine stop by the texas department of

public safety only for that staff to immediately escalate into gunfire by this killer. with an officer being injured in the process. so i appreciate the way that the texas department of safety steps up every single day, always prepared, knowing that their lives are on the line any stop they make, insuring safety in our communities across the state. i also want to express my gratitude to the incredible health care providers of in the region. of this region. they had to deal with probably was their most challenging day ever, and they stepped up with collective calm and poise to make sure that they were able to heal the wounded as quickly as possible. i want to express my deepest sorrow for the families who have lost a loved one and for all the

victims who have been wounded. the hurt you feel is incalculable. you must hold onto the hope that you can also have. and we're seeing this already with the family of one of the victims. some of you know that one of the victims is a 17-month-old child, and moments before coming in here i received a text from the mother of this 17-month-old. i want to read you the text of what this mother wrote. she said, quote: thank you all for praying. this is all of our worst nightmare, but thank god she's alive and relatively well. she goes on to say that: toddlers are funny because they

can get shot but still want to run around and play. she says that we are thank god for that. her mouth is pretty bad but will heal and can be fixed. thankfully, it doesn't seem like her jaw was hit, just lip, teeth and tongue. she is having surgery tomorrow to remove the shrapnel from her chest and to fix her lip and mouth and to get a better look at her tongue. we are thanking god for healing her and appreciate continued prayers. i want her family to know that they can be assured of those prayers today, tomorrow and every day as that young child continues her pathway to healing. let me say this: i have been to

too many of these events. as above of -- as governor, the first one i went to was a after the shooting in downtown dallas that killed police officers as well as others. then there was sutherland springs where 26 people were killed. then santa fe high school where 10 people were killed x. then less than a month ago there was a shooting in el paso. well, i am heartbroken by the crying of the people of the state of texas. i'm tired of the dying for the people of the state of texas. too many texans are in mourning. too many texans have lost their lives. the status quo in texas is unacceptable, and action is needed. after the shooting at santa fe

high school, i signed more than 15 laws to make our schools safer from shooting attacks. in the immediate aftermath of the shooting in el paso, i've worked with the lieutenant governor, the speaker as well as legislators, i've also worked with the victims as well as advocacy groups. we have been working on drafting solutions that can be taken by legislators as well as solutions that could be taken by the governor and the executive branch in texas. solutions that address racist hate attacks like what happened in el paso, solutions that will address keeping our communities safer. now in the aftermath of this shooting and the unique aspects of this shooting, we must broaden our efforts to address the tragedy that has befallen odessa. and we must do so quickly. we need solutions that will keep guns out of the hands of criminals like the killer here

in odessa while also assuring that we safeguard second amendment rights, and we must do it fast. most of all, in the aftermath of what happened here in odessa, we must replicate what we have seen in el paso, sutherland springs, santa fe and in dallas, and that is we must do what texans do best. in times of tragedy, we unite. we come together. we support each other. we reinvigorate our community with the love that we have for one another. and knowing the permian basin the way that i do, i know that is exactly what's going to happen here in odessa, in midland and the entire region. so thank you all as a community for what you will be doing to help each other, and thank you to the heroic law enforcement officers and first responders for everything that you've already done. [applause]

>> well, as you can see, first, i'd like to echo and complement -- [inaudible] the governor's bringing a lot of attention, needed attention -- seeing that we, unfortunately, had to respond to. west texas region, having two active shooters in a matter of 28 days is unheard of. so when we have things like this, incidents like this, it's important we reach out to our partners and that we all, as you

can see those behind me and those standing with me, we can't do it alone. it's important that the continued focus, unify and help the governor fight -- [inaudible] just want to give you an update on our trooper shot yesterday, by the grace of god, he survived the shooting. we went through a couple hours' surgery yesterday, and the doctors left very optimistic that he will have a recovery, a full recovery. [inaudible] he will be fine. at the onset of this call, we had troopers not only attempting to stop the suspect, we had -- [inaudible] all the resources we had available not only in law enforcement, but also nontraditional side. victim counselors are working behind the scenes with to december saw police department and the federal bureau of investigation as well insuring

those families that are suffering losses are definitely compensated as the law allows. and thanks to the governor and also the attorney general, we'll make sure that all monies are made available to the families to help them -- [inaudible] thank you. >> along those lines, i want to emphasize one thing. first is gratitude to the legislators from this region who can be very helpful in the effort that making sure that the victims and others get the resources they need. they're behind me, and i want to recognize the senator from this region which is senator selager and the house of representatives member, brooks -- [inaudible] as well as regional representative senators, senator perry and representative craddock. they can all be extremely helpful in working with local families and hoping communities and local -- local communities and local schools as well as

health care providers in providing information to us, the state. so i urge you to be active in the next days, weeks and months to come in working with these representatives and senators to make sure that all of your needs are raised and addressed. with that, we'll pass over to federal official involved. >> my name is christopher -- [inaudible] i'm the fbi special agent in charge. first, i want to commend local law enforcement efforts and the state effort here. there is no question that these are the true heroes. in the midst of a man driving down the highway shooting at people, local law enforcement and state troopers pursued him and stopped him from possibly going into a crowded movie theater and having another event of mass violence. i think's the story of law enforcement that should be conveyed, of how heroic the chief's men and women are. so i want to commend them on that. the fbi is here as we are now

almost every other week supporting our state and local are partners on an active shooter. we are now at every two weeks, almost every two weeks an active shooter in this country. the fbi responds to them, all the support of our state and local partners. here in odessa we have 130 fbi personnel support -- [inaudible] leland: all right. it would appear as though, it would appear as though we have just lost the signal out of december saw, texas. -- of odessa, texas. that was the fbi special agent in charge of the local field office nearby talking about how almost every two weeks the fbi is involved in a major active shooter investigation. we did not learn a lot new in this news conference, although there were some pretty stunning moments including the texas governor reading a a text from one of the victims' mothers, that is the youngest victim at 17 months, a baby who was airlifted for pediatric care who

we understand will recover. we saw the police chief there get fairly emotional when discussing what happened in his city less than 24 hours ago. there was a man who police tried to pull over in a traffic stop. he wouldn't stop and began firing not only at police, but driving down the highways and byways of midland, texas, and o december saw -- odessa, texas, shooting and killing at least seven people. we believe we have that signal back up from the fbi and the golf's press conference in odessa. >> action between fbi and dps, odessa police is built on -- [inaudible] working together. so we are all working together to make sure that the community is as safe as it can possibly be. and we will be here for the duration of the time that the chief needs our services, and unfortunately, we will then go

to scene of the next active shooter which is an unfortunate statement to make, but it seems like that's what we do. we'll always be here to support our local partners and help them through these horrible tragedies that we see here in texas and across the country. thank you, sir. >> thank you. a few questions. >> chief -- [inaudible] do you believe that the gunman was going to go -- [inaudible] >> you know, there's no way of absolutely knowing that, but it begs the question why go to the theater if you're not planning on something the theater. and please understand that on a saturday afternoon in odessa, texas, that is one of the most crowded places. >> do you know what the initial motive was -- [inaudible] >> i do not. at this point we do not. >> is there any reason to believe this could have been a planned attack? >> again, the investigation is still ongoing, and there's a lot of questions that we just don't have answers to at this point.

[inaudible conversations] >> [inaudible] describe that, how long did it last, did the shooter have a chance to -- [inaudible] >> again, you know, all that is still under investigation. there are some videos that are out there, but i'm not going to get into that incident at this point -- >> [inaudible] >> point of order, we're going to call people -- [inaudible] raise your hands and then we'll call on you. >> [inaudible] pickup truck was shot by police officers and then -- [inaudible] if not, could you tell us what happened -- >> i have no information about the incident that you're talking about. >> [inaudible] >> [inaudible] >> okay. the firearm was an ar type

weapon. and as far as how he obtained it, that is still under investigation. >> [inaudible] >> he was stopped for a simple traffic operation -- >> by dps. >> for failure to signal -- [inaudible] >> [inaudible] >> i'm sorry? >> [inaudible] >> i believe there is some criminal record attached to his driver's license. i'm sure that'll surface later. >> [inaudible] >> right here. >> a bunch of new gun laws went into effect -- [inaudible] en wonder if texas went the wrong direction -- [inaudible] >> well, for example, one of the laws that went into effect and some deal with issues like this, and that is laws that insure that school marshals will be

able to have guns to keep schools safer. some of these laws were enacted for the purpose of making our community safer. >> is texas doing enough to restrict guns like ar-15s? >> well, what with we have been doing, especially in the aftermath of the shooting in el paso, we've been meeting daily in part with members of the legislature, in part with victims, in part with members of the community, in part with our federal counterparts. and we've been hammering out on a daily basis new, additional solutions that we will be working to offer up. some by the governor, some by the executive branch, some by the legislature. but these would be new and different solutions that work to deescalate gun violence in texas. >> [inaudible] >> absolutely. [inaudible conversations] >> was the suspect from odessa? >> the suspect has a -- [inaudible] county address.

[inaudible conversations] >> any warrants or -- [inaudible] as far as you know? >> as far as i know, there was no active warrant. >> could you walk us new the timeline of -- >> no, we can't. actually, because this is a very chaotic situation when these things happen, that is all being pieced together. >> governor abbott, one of the things -- [inaudible] one of the things that -- [inaudible] the shooting that you just mentioned, sutherland springs, el paso, odessa, it's an ar-style rifle. is it not -- [inaudible] >> this is the kind of thing that legislators are already talking about. this is one of the topics that was raised during the round table discussions that we had in el paso. i do want to point out -- >> [inaudible]

>> i was going to say, i do want to point out, however, some of the shootings have not involved ars. the shooting that took place at santa fe high school did not. the largest -- they involved a shotgun and a handgun. the largest mass shooting we had in the state of texas was at lube -- luby's and involved onlien handguns. let me just answer your question. we're going to look at every issue. there's no issue that we will not look at, and we're going to be working with legislators to find out what the best solutions are for texas. [inaudible conversations] >> did every law enforcement officer -- [inaudible] would rather go up against a person with a handgun -- [inaudible] >> and the people we also talked to are law enforcement officers. [inaudible conversations]

>> [inaudible] or are they all -- [inaudible] >> all things are being processed -- all scenes are being processed. again, well over 15, so it takes time to process that. >> and -- [inaudible] >> you know, there's no way of knowing without talking to him, but we can't talk to him. but, again, he showed up at a movie theater which tends to show husband motives -- his motives. >> we're going to go to last

three questions -- [inaudible] go ahead. >> yes, sir. first of all, thank you for everything you've done -- [inaudible] with spoke with a man yesterday at the theater -- [inaudible] he was wondering, is there a reason why evacuation was initiated rather than a lockdown when this -- [inaudible] >> the situation was so fluid, at that point this person was driving from loca case to location to location. finish lockdown, evacuation, you know, two sides of the same coin, i think. you just don't have enough personnel to lock down every location in this city. you just don't. so you do the best you can with the personnel you have, and

that's why we had people there at synergy. again, lockdown, evacuation, either way -- >> during that time -- [inaudible] >> absolutely. absolutely. >> next we're going to go to you, sir. finish. >> thank you. earlier yesterday you said that -- [inaudible] was there a reason why you -- [inaudible] that you were looking for. >> no, i think maybe you misunderstood what i was saying yesterday. what i was saying yesterday was that when the suspect was down, we had a good idea who he was at that time. and that we just had not totally identified him. that's why we wouldn't release that until we had an absolute, stone cold identification on him.

but that's what i was thinking. >> last question. >> [inaudible] first, for the fbi -- [inaudible] a home search warrant, what can you tell us about the location -- [inaudible] or anyone else? >> i can tell you we're executing a federally-authorized search warrant at this point in time. as we've also described, there's over 15 crime scenes so, frankly, we're all over the place here in odessa with the dps, the rangers, the odessa police. so i would say all day today, probably all day tomorrow you're going to see significant police and fbi presence. >> and, governor, you were recorded as saying i'm tired of people dying. base -- [inaudible] what can you say to the people of texas -- [inaudible]

call for action -- [inaudible] >> first, from the response side, at the state level we have a sense of urgency to arrive at solutions working together with the legislature, working together with our law enforcement officers and federal partners, and we are working quickly to hammer out some solutions, to put some solutions on the table. second, importantly, is the way that our law enforcement responds. they work 24/7 to make sure that their communities are safe as possible, and you can see the dedication that they have, and they will be doing the same to replicate that effort in every community across the entire state of texas. >> thanks, guys. gotta run. [inaudible] the press conference in odessa, texas, you learned a little bit more information about the shooting that left

seven people dead and more than a dozen injured yesterday. that was a gunbattle throughout odessa in midland. there was up to 15 crime scenes and there was an ar type weapon used in the big question that police do not know or not saying, is why. the suspect had a criminal record but no active warrant. so something happened when a traffic stop begin, they said it was a routine traffic stop by law enforcement. police were not tracking this individual, they noticed he did not use his left hand turn single into state troopers decided to pull him over, before they pulled him over he began opening fire. i don't know about you, but the most chilling part is where the fbi, special agent in charge talked about the idea that what really happened here was a tragic mass shooting at one

point but in a second sense the heroic actions of law enforcement chasing this person for about an hour bringing him down in a hail of gunfire prevented even in his words, a much worse act of violence that was possibly entering into the crowded movie theater on saturday afternoon. >> he also talked about how difficult it was right now for law enforcement and somebody different agencies because you have a crime scene spread out across many miles, this is not an active shooter in one building or place spread out across highways and cities. no information, no identity of the suspect. the law enforcement officials say they did not intend to give his name because they do not want to make them famous or given any notoriety. we did get information about the victims they range from 15 years old to 57 years old. we mentioned earlier, i want to highlight, that moment when the texas governor greg abbott

talked about the toddler that was shot in the face, he read the text message from his mother and the mom said, toddlers are funny, they can get shot and still want to run around and play. just the chilling detail and you always get these details after a moment and mashing is like that -- >> i was thinking about you during that in the moderate under mother of a toddler in any way a parent reacts to hearing about such an innocent life that you cannot explain why they are in pain, why this is happening to them, why the having surgery to take fragments out of their chest. and were hearing about so many more people who were these innocent victims along the sides of roads that were shot and hit with flying glass and the like. but as you pointed out, that was a really poignant moment in the mother who has a presence of mind and the tragedy to say we are so