Two people have been killed and eight others injured in a mass shooting in the Texas town of Amarillo.
Police rushed to the scene as the shooting unfolded at the Westminster Apartments located at Coulter Street and Westgate Parkway. Witnesses living near the scene reported hearing what sounded like “machine gun fire” followed by dozens more shots. One man was pronounced dead at the scene, and nine people were rushed to the hospital, five of them critical. Sadly one of the injured victims later died.
Police have revealed that a group “juveniles and young adults” were at a party elsewhere before moving to the apartment complex where the shooting took place.
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Some people who had been asked to leave the original party “later followed attendees” to the scene and when they tried to enter an apartment, they opened fire with a “rifle-style weapon,” ABC7 Amarillo reports.
Gun violence in Texas remains a significant problem.
According to data from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, 4,561 people died from gun-related causes in Texas in 2023, the latest year with information available, including 1,706 homicides and 2,697 suicides.
On average, one person is killed by a gun every two hours in the state.
The data also highlights how gun violence affects different groups unevenly. Firearms were the leading cause of death among young people aged 1 to 17 in Texas, with 276 deaths recorded in this age group in 2023 alone.
In addition, demographic disparities are significant: Black Texans are over six times more likely to die by gun homicide than white residents, while men are far more likely than women to be victims of both homicide and suicide involving firearms.
Beyond the immediate human toll, the economic impact is substantial.
Gun violence costs Texas an estimated $51.8 billion annually, reflecting healthcare expenses, lost productivity, and broader societal effects.
