美國德州西部的米德蘭 - 敖德薩都會區驚傳槍擊案。(湯森路透)
《洛杉磯時報》(LA Times)報導,鄰近墨西哥邊境、美國德州西部的米德蘭 - 敖德薩(Odessa and Midland area)都會區,台北時間1日凌晨驚傳隨意槍擊掃射,一名男性兇嫌持槍在卡車上,對路過民眾開槍射擊,共導致5人死亡、約21人受到輕重傷。不過當地警方稍早證實,該兇嫌已遭到警方擊斃。
敖得薩警局對外表示,兇嫌是一名年約30歲的白人男性,他犯案原先駕駛自己的本田(Honda)私家車,棄置後竊取一輛郵局公務車,繼續在市區道路進行犯案。兇嫌目前在與警員駁火間遭擊斃,並證實沒有第二名槍手存在。
Texas Gov. Abbott on the Odessa-Midland attack, which comes less than a month after the El Paso attack: "I want to remind all Texans that we will not allow the Lone Star State to be overrun by hatred and violence." pic.twitter.com/a5UvJ3nipg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 31, 2019
DEVELOPING: A gunman is at large in a hijacked mail truck in Texas and "shooting at random people," according to Odessa Police Department. There are "multiple gunshot victims," police said. https://t.co/jdHsN3CCzA
— ABC News (@ABC) August 31, 2019
總統川普(Donald Trump)也在案發後第一時間聽取簡報,並全程對調查和搜索展開監督,而德州現任州長阿博特(Greg Abbott)則痛批兇嫌,認為這是一次「無意義且懦弱的攻擊行為。」
民主黨眾多總統挑戰者也相繼推文,批評川普政府錯誤舉措,讓此類悲劇不斷發生。例如像楊安澤(Andrew Yang)就寫到,「我們會比現在更好、我們也應該為下一代採取更多行動!」
The Odessa shooting is horrific - people shot randomly in a shopping center for no reason. My heart goes out to the families of the dead and wounded, including our brave law enforcement officers. We must do all we can to curb the scourge of gun violence in this country.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) August 31, 2019
但即便批評聲浪如此多,外電仍提到、美國控管槍枝的法規依然過於鬆散。就以德州當地來說,州議會近期通過法令修正,將允許具有合格擁槍執照者,能將其手槍存放其車上或隨車運輸至各地。此一「鬆綁」管制的修正案,恐在此次槍擊後再受輿論爭議。