• Police killed 36-year-old Seth Ator outside a movie theater in Odessa, Texas, after he gunned down 7 people and injured around two dozen others on Saturday in a shooting rampage that spanned 10 miles.
  • An FBI spokesperson told Insider that Ator called the FBI tip line just before the shooting. He also called the local police.
  • FBI special agent Christopher Combs said Ator made “rambling statements about some of the atrocities that he felt that he had gone through.”
  • Combs said Ator had just been fired from his job at Journey Oilfield Services, and launched into a shooting rampage after a state trooper tried to pull him over for failing to use a turn signal.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A west Texas man who killed 7 people in a shooting rampage after being fired from his job had called 911 and the FBI before opening fire, authorities said on Monday.

Police killed 36-year-old Seth Ator outside a movie theater in Odessa, Texas, after he fatally shot 7 people and injured about two dozen others on Saturday in a rampage that spanned 10 miles.

An FBI spokesperson told Insider that Ator called the FBI tip line just before the shooting. He also called the local police.

FBI special agent Christopher Combs told the Associated Press that Ator made “rambling statements about some of the atrocities that he felt that he had gone through.”

Combs said Ator had just been fired from his job at Journey Oilfield Services.

"He was on a long spiral of going down," Combs said. "He didn't wake up Saturday morning and walk into his company and then it happened. He went to that company in trouble."

Odessa police chief Michael Gerke told reporters that both Ator and his employer called police before the shooting.

Read more: Photos show thousands of people gathered in Odessa, Texas for an emotional tribute to the victims of Saturday's mass shooting

"Basically they were complaining at each other because they had a disagreement over that firing," he said, according to NBC News.

By the time police arrived at Journey Oilfield Services' offices, Ator had already left.

Unaware of Ator's calls to the FBI and police, a Texas state trooper tried to pull Ator over for failing to use a turn signal during a lane change.

At that point, Ator pointed an AR-style rifle at the trooper, fired at his vehicle, launching a police chase in which he fired at random. The chase ended when police killed Ator.

Odessa officials said on Monday that the victims in the shooting were between 17 months old and 57 years old. Victims include mail carrier Mary Granados, 29, and 15-year-old high school student Leilah Hernandez.