A local TV station covering the rampage in Odessa, Texas kept their broadcast on despite being forced to vacate the studio twice, as police with “guns drawn” entered the mall and people ran in panic from an active shooting scene.
An anchor for KOSA-TV, a CBS affiliate in Odessa, Texas, kept a remarkable cool as the channel’s newsroom at Music City Mall was being evacuated.
“We are going to slip away just for a minute, we do not know what’s going on,” the anchor said, before leaving the studio. “Folks, this is a serious situation we want you to know this.”
This is the exact moment when – while they were reporting LIVE ON AIR – the team at @CBS7News was evacuated due to a threat of an active shooter in the mall.
He, however, managed to keep his mic on and kept the viewers updated as reports of several people killed and dozens injured came in.
A lot of folks just came running to the mall. There is trash everywhere on the floor. We don’t know why there are people still running.
Police descended on the mall to screen something at the premises, the anchor reported, while remaining seemingly unperturbed by what was transpiring.
However, that was not the end of it. Shortly after returning to the studio, the staff was told to “disappear” again. Before doing just that, the anchor mentioned that he saw “three deputies with guns drawn” passing by and meticulously described the scenes of pure chaos unraveling before him such as shoes being scattered on the floor and coffee cups overturned.
There is not something we thought would ever happen here
It was only later that police confirmed that the area outside Cinergy movie theater at the Music City Mall became the scene of the final confrontation between the shooter and the officers. The suspect rammed the hijacked USPS truck into the police barrier, before being shot at and killed by police.
VIDEO: KOSA-TV anchor returns to news desk after initial evacuation, only to be evacuated again after officers seen with guns drawn outside TV studios at Music City Mall in Odessa, Texas [KOSA-TV] pic.twitter.com/jQ8osmuXmZ
At least five people have been confirmed killed in the Saturday shootings, in which the white male suspect fired randomly at people at several spots in Midland and Odessa. At least 21 more have been injured, including several police officers.
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