Midland–Odessa shootings
{{short description|Spree shooting in Midland and Odessa, Texas}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Midland–Odessa shootings
| image = File:Odessa-Midland Shooting Vehicle.png
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| caption = Odessa truck windshield damaged in the shooting
| map = {{Location map | USA Texas # USA
| float = center
| label = Midland–Odessa
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| location = Midland/Odessa, Texas, U.S.
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| date = August 31, 2019
| time-begin = 3:17 p.m.
| type = Spree shooting
Drive-by shooting, Mass shooting
| weapons = Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 semi-automatic rifle{{Cite web|url= https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2020/10/07/man-who-illegally-sold-rifle-to-midland-odessa-rampage-gunman-pleads-guilty-to-federal-charges/?outputType=amp|title= Man who illegally sold rifle to Midland-Odessa rampage gunman pleads guilty to federal charges|publisher=NBC News|language=en|access-date=August 31, 2019|date=October 7, 2020}}
| fatalities = 8 (including the perpetrator)
| injuries = 25 (24 by gunshot and 1 by glass shards)
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| motive = Unknown (believed to be mental illness)
| inquiry =
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| perp = Seth Aaron Ator
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On August 31, 2019, a spree shooting occurred in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa, involving a gunman shooting multiple people from a vehicle.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/multiple-people-injured-roaming-shooter-odessa-texas-police-say-n1048656|title=5 dead, 21 injured after motorist opens fire in Odessa, Texas|publisher=NBC News|language=en|access-date=August 31, 2019|date=August 31, 2019|author1=Dennis Romero|author2=Andrew Blankstein|author3=Tom Winter}} Eight people were killed, including the perpetrator, and twenty-five people were injured, including three police officers. It was the third major mass shooting to take place in the United States in August 2019, following the El Paso Walmart shooting and the Dayton shooting (both of which took place 13 hours apart).
Authorities identified the shooter as 36-year-old Seth Aaron Ator from Lorena, Texas, a man who had been fired from his job the morning of the shooting spree.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/01/us/death-toll-texas-shooting.html|title=Shooting Spree Across 15 Miles in West Texas Terrorized Two Towns and Killed 7|last1=Holt|first1=Lucinda|last2=Fernandez|first2=Manny|date=September 1, 2019|work=The New York Times}} He was later shot and killed by police outside a movie theater in Odessa.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/odessa-midland-shooting-texas-active-shooter-today-live-updates-2019-08-31/|title=Active shooter dead after killing 5 in West Texas shootings, police say|publisher=CBS News|language=en-US|access-date=September 2, 2019|date=August 31, 2019|author=Caroline Linton}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/31/us/odessa-shootings.html|title=At Least 5 Dead and 21 Injured in Shootings in Midland, Tex.|last1=Fernandez|first1=Manny|date=August 31, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 31, 2019|last2=Vigdor|first2=Neil}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/odessa-shooting/index.html|title=Live updates: Shooter targets people at shopping centers in West Texas|last=Vera|first=Amir|publisher=CNN|access-date=September 2, 2019|date=September 1, 2019}}
Shootings
At 1:27 p.m., Odessa Police Department responded to a call by Ator's former employer for a disturbance. Before the call, Ator was in the process of being terminated from his job for being rude to other employees at a contracted jobsite, but he became agitated and refused to hand over property belonging to the company. Ator started accusing the company of distributing child pornography before leaving. Ator got in his car and rammed through the business's fence as he left. While Odessa Police responded to the disturbance call, Ator contacted 911 and his call was transferred to the officers responding to the disturbance call. He started rambling about a cult stalking him and posting child pornography. He made claims that the employer kidnapped him and forced him to watch child pornography.{{Cite news |last=Randle |first=Caitlin |date=February 3, 2020 |title=New documents clear up Odessa mass shooting timeline |url=https://www.mrt.com/news/article/New-documents-clear-up-mass-shooting-timeline-15022927.php |work=mrt}} He also demanded the police to help him track down the people stalking him, and that he would start shooting if any law enforcement tried to kidnap him. The police received several calls of a man, matching Ator's description, driving erratically and displaying a rifle. The police decided to wait for Ator, at the business, in case he would do a mass shooting there. They also deployed other units to keep track of Ator's location and search his address.
The shooting spree began at 3:17 p.m. during a traffic stop on Interstate 20, where a Texas state trooper was shot while attempting to stop a gold 1999 Toyota Camry{{Cite web|title=Odessa shooting: Here's a look at the scenes impacted by the shooter|url=https://www.gosanangelo.com/picture-gallery/news/2019/09/01/odessa-shooting-here-is-what-happened/2188035001/|access-date=2021-09-10|website=www.gosanangelo.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=License Plate Decode Result|url=https://www.faxvin.com/license-plate-lookup/result?plate=LHH4711&state=TX|access-date=2021-09-10|website=FAXVIN| date=June 2017 |language=en-US}} over a failure to signal a left turn.{{Cite web|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/article234601732.html|title=At least 5 dead in Texas shooting rampage after traffic stop|author=Paul J. Weber|date=August 31, 2019|agency=Associated Press|language=en|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901050454/https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/article234601732.html|archive-date=September 1, 2019|url-status=dead}} Ator fired several rounds into the state trooper car's windshield and injured one of the occupants. The other occupant fired back with a handgun as Ator drove along the Interstate 20. Ator stopped his car again to fire at the state troopers before driving away. The state troopers were unable to start a car chase as one of the occupants in the vehicle was injured. As Ator drove along Interstate 20, he shot into several vehicles as he passed by them. During the time, he called 911 and berated the operators as he fired his rifle. Ator eventually dropped the call, turned onto East Loop 338, and left the highway. On the highway, two motorists were killed and eight were left wounded, including the state trooper. Over the course of the entire massacre, several more vehicles were shot with the occupants uninjured.{{Cite web |last=American |first=Odessa |date=2021-09-17 |title=Final report on mass shooting released |url=https://www.oaoa.com/local-news/final-report-on-mass-shooting-released/ |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=Odessa American |language=en-US}}
Ator continued into Odessa, Texas, through East Loop 338 and wounded two more motorists as he drove north.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-shooting-death-toll-midland-odessa-suspect-dead|title=At least 21 shot, 5 killed in West Texas rampage, official says; suspect dead|last=Leon|first=Melissa|date=August 31, 2019|publisher=Fox News|language=en-US|access-date=September 1, 2019}} He turned right onto a commercial parking lot, in TX-191, and drove around in a loop. During the loop, he cut through the parking lot and entered TX-191 westbound. He shot a motorist as he drove west, before turning right onto East Loop 338 again. Ator drove north before performing a U-turn. Ator drove southbound on East Loop 338 before driving onto TX-191 westbound. Ator entered the parking lot of a car dealership and stopped his car. He waved at a family standing outside the dealership before opening fire. He killed the teenage daughter of the family and wounded the son before driving off. Ator drove onto Preston Smith Road before turning right onto East 42nd Street. As Ator drove west on East 42nd Street, he shot into three vehicles, injuring four people, including a 17-month-old child. Ator reached an intersection and turned left onto John Ben Shepperd Parkway. As he made the turn, Ator wounded three motorists (2 directly and 1 via glass shards). Ator drove south on JBS Parkway and shot a man in a commercial parking lot in a drive-by style shooting. Ator turned right and drove onto Maple Avenue. While driving westbound on Maple Avenue, he fired at a car without injuring anyone. At this point, Ator drove in a westward direction with minor deviations as he drove through the residential area of Odessa. Ator eventually turned onto East 38th Street from North Everglade Avenue, and shot a female motorist at the intersection of North Dixie Boulevard and East 38th Street. Ator turned onto Adams Avenue and stopped his Toyota Camry next to a United States Postal Service-labeled Ram C/V Tradesman.
Ator fired his rifle several times before dragging a 29-year-old letter carrier out of her mail van. He killed her, transferred items from his Toyota to the mail van, and hijacked the letter carrier's vehicle. In the hijacked van, Ator continued driving south on Adams Avenue and turned onto East 36th Street. He turned onto Walnut Avenue and drove northbound. He drove onto the lawn of a house at the corner of East 38th Street and Walnut Avenue before killing a man inside the home from outside. While shooting the man, he also injured another person in the area before performing a U-turn in an alleyway and driving back to Walnut Avenue to head south.
For several minutes, Ator drove around Odessa without firing at anyone. Ator resumed shooting people when he fatally shot a motorist on East Yukon Road while driving eastbound near an intersection between East Yukon Road and North Grandview Avenue. Ator continued driving east, until he turned south onto Faudree Road. He fatally shot a man in his car at the intersection of TX-191 and Faudree Road. Ator turned left onto the south road of TX-191 and injured a motorist as he drove northeast. Ator was heading in the direction of the Cinergy movie theater. However, for unknown reasons, Ator then made a turn towards the parking lot of MCH Procare, a hospital. As he drove into the parking lot, he briefly passed the Chris Kyle memorial. Ator drove through the parking lot of the hospital and shot at two police vehicles, injuring two officers, as he left the parking lot. Ator made a turn onto Dr. Emmitt Headlee Street and drove east towards the evacuated Cinergy Odessa movie theater. Ator sped down the road towards a police roadblock consisting of two patrol vehicles with the intent of ramming through the barricade. One of the officers, blocking the road, intentionally struck the USPS van with his own vehicle and lessened the impact of the crash. The van finally stopped, and Ator tried to fire at police officers from within the van. Ator was quickly neutralized after a brief gun battle, where he was shot at least 16 times.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/08/31/5-dead-several-wounded-after-gunman-targets-random-victims-in-midland-odessa-area-police-say/|title=5 dead, several wounded after gunman targets random victims in Midland-Odessa area, police say|last1=Smith|first1=LaVendrick|last2=Corchado|first2=Alfredo|date=August 31, 2019|website=Dallas News|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 1, 2019}}{{Cite web |last=Randle |first=Caitlin |date=2020-02-01 |title=New documents clear up Odessa mass shooting timeline |url=https://www.mrt.com/news/article/New-documents-clear-up-mass-shooting-timeline-15022927.php |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Midland Reporter-Telegram |language=en}}
There was initial confusion over where the perpetrator was and how many individuals were involved. The confusion is apparent over the police scanner where one officer states about twenty minutes after the first officer was shot; "We're getting multiple calls for different victims in different locations. I've got people talking on four different channels, I'm not clear on anything, you're all talking."{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/04/texas-shooting-midland-odessa-police-scanner-audio-reveals-chase/2197222001/|title=A lone gunman fleeing Texas police stalked and shot people over a frenzied hour. Scanner traffic reveals the chaos|last1=Cava|first1=Marco della|last2=Frank|first2=BrieAnna J.|website=USA TODAY|language=en|access-date=September 5, 2019}}
Victims
Seven people, ranging in age from 15 to 57, were killed.{{cite web |title=Latest Updates: Neighbor says gunman was "violent, aggressive"|url=https://www.yourbasin.com/news/local-news/tragedy-strikes-odessa-here-is-everything-we-know/ |website=Your Basin |accessdate=September 2, 2019 |date=September 2, 2019}}{{cite web |title=The Latest: 7 killed in Texas range in age from 15 to 57 |url=https://www.oaoa.com/news/us_news/article_e6dee4ba-83fc-5ee0-89a3-c894f3f8dbc1.html |website=Odessa American |agency=Associated Press |accessdate=September 1, 2019}} Seventeen more were hospitalized for injuries.{{cite web |title=Victims from weekend shootings identified |url=https://www.yourbasin.com/news/victims-from-weekend-shootings-identified/ |publisher=KMID|accessdate=September 2, 2019 |ref=Victims |date=September 2, 2019}} Among the injured were three police: a Texas state trooper, a Midland police officer, and an Odessa police officer. The youngest victim was a wounded 17-month-old child. One of the dead was a USPS postal worker, age 29, who had been driving the postal service truck Ator hijacked.{{cite web| title=A US mail carrier nearing the end of her shift was among those killed in West Texas shooting|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/us/west-texas-mass-shooting-victims/index.html|publisher=CNN|accessdate=September 1, 2019}}
Perpetrator
The day after the shooting, police identified the shooter as 36-year-old Seth Aaron Ator (September 17, 1982{{Cite web|url=https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Records-indicate-accused-Midland-Odessa-mass-14406380.php|title=Records indicate accused Midland-Odessa mass shooter's parents live in San Antonio|date=September 3, 2019|newspaper=MyJournalCourier}} – August 31, 2019) of Lorena, Texas. Officials initially refused to identify Ator as they did not want to give him any notoriety.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kcbd.com/2019/09/01/police-reveal-name-midlandodessa-shooting-suspect/|title=City officials reveal name of Midland/Odessa shooting suspect|last=Digital|first=KCBD|date=September 1, 2019|website=KCBD 11|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-08}} Ator was born in Amarillo, Texas,{{Cite web|url=https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/texas/article/Records-indicate-accused-Midland-Odessa-mass-14406258.php|title=Everything we know about the Odessa gunman, Seth Ator|date=September 3, 2019|newspaper=MySanAntonio}} and moved to Lorena in January 1995. Ator withdrew from Lorena High School in November 2000 to enroll in a GED program, which he later enrolled in McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/records-show-midland-odessa-shooter-once-lived-in-lorena-and-waco/500-ab3f7430-4dcb-42d8-a44b-2019f5745d51|title=Records show Midland-Odessa shooter once lived in Lorena and Waco|date=September 3, 2019|newspaper=KCEN-TV}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/odessa-texas-shooting-sources-identify-gunman-as-seth-ator|work=Daily Beast|title=Seth Ator Identified as Odessa Gunman|date=September 1, 2019|access-date=September 1, 2019}} He was arrested in Waco in 2001 for trespassing and evading arrest for trying to break into a woman's bedroom after threatening to kill her brother, which he pleaded guilty to in 2002.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/01/texas-shooting-gunman-identified-seth-ator/2188123001/|title=Texas shooter who killed 7 in Odessa, Midland identified|last=Vandell|first=Perry|website=USA Today|language=en|access-date=September 1, 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Bleiberg |first1=Jake |title=Newly obtained records detail Odessa gunman's previous run-ins with police |url=https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Records-West-Texas-gunman-has-suicidal-14430883.php |website=Midland Reporter-Telegram |accessdate=11 September 2019 |ref=2001 break-in |date=11 September 2019}}
Ator lived in West Odessa in Ector County in "a metal shack that lacked electricity, plumbing, a floor and even furniture"; he lived alone, except for a small dog.{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Odessa-gunman-lived-in-a-dirt-floor-shack-and-14407506.php|title=Odessa gunman lived in a dirt-floor shack, a small dog his only companion|author=John MacCormack|date=September 3, 2019|newspaper=San Antonio Express-News}} A neighbor said that, well before his killing spree, he had yelled at her while carrying a large rifle. She also said he sometimes shot animals from his roof, which she had complained to police about, but they never responded to her complaint.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/west-texas-shooting-odessa-midland/index.html|title=7 killed in West Texas shooting: Live updates|date=September 1, 2019|publisher=CNN}} Another neighbor told the Associated Press that her family had lived near Ator for the past five months and were afraid of him due to his tendency to shoot rabbits in the nighttime and him banging on their door early one morning.{{cite web |title=The Latest: Neighbor says gunman was "violent, aggressive" |url=https://www.mrt.com/news/texas/article/The-Latest-Police-expected-to-release-more-on-14407184.php |website=Midland Reporter-Telegram |accessdate=September 3, 2019 |date=September 3, 2019}}
In January 2014, Ator failed a national criminal background check when he tried to purchase a gun; the system flagged him as ineligible because of a prior local court determination that he was mentally unfit.{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-shooter-had-been-banned-from-buying-firearms-because-mentally-unfit-11567540321|title=Texas Shooter Had Been Banned From Buying Firearms Because Mentally Unfit|date=September 3, 2019|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=September 4, 2019}} According to law enforcement officials, Ator subsequently bought the gun used in the shooting via a private sale, without having to go through a background check.{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-gunman-purchased-weapon-private-sale-which-doesn-t-require-n1049351|title=Texas gunman purchased weapon in private sale, which doesn't require background check|date=September 3, 2019|access-date=September 4, 2019|publisher=NBC News}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/us/west-texas-shooter-gun/index.html|title=West Texas shooter bought gun in private sale|author=Theresa Waldrop|date=September 3, 2019|publisher=CNN}}
Investigation
On September 1, the FBI said it was executing a search warrant at the suspect's house, located about 20 minutes west of Odessa. On September 2, at a press conference, FBI agent Christopher Combs said that the perpetrator turned up for work "enraged".{{cite web|url=https://www.oaoa.com/news/state/article_456c9699-970d-5fbb-b3b6-bd961bab0b4a.html|title=The Latest: FBI: Gunman troubled before job woes, shooting|website=Odessa American|accessdate=September 2, 2019}}{{cite web |title=Texas shooting: Gunman had just been fired, police say |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49559563 |accessdate=September 3, 2019 |date=September 3, 2019|publisher=BBC News}} Ator was fired from his job at Journey Oilfield Services hours before the shooting. Fifteen minutes before his encounter with troopers, Ator phoned a national tip line. Agent Combs described the call as "rambling statements about some of the atrocities that he felt that he had gone through", adding "He did not make a threat during that phone call". FBI agents attempted to identify and locate the caller, but were unable to do so in the fifteen minutes before the shooting began.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/09/02/756772750/texas-gunman-who-killed-7-had-been-fired-just-hours-before-shootings-reports|title=Texas Gunman Who Killed 7 Had Been Fired Just Hours Before Shootings|first=Allison|last=Aubrey|date=September 2, 2019|accessdate= September 11, 2019|work=NPR}}
Police said Ator used an AR-15 type rifle in the shooting, but did not say where he obtained it.{{cite news|publisher=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shooting-in-texas-odessa-midland-at-least-6-dead-3-police-injured-mass-shooting-latest-news-2019-09-01/|title=Mass shooting in Texas leaves at least 7 dead, 24 wounded in Odessa and Midland|date=September 1, 2019|access-date=September 1, 2019}}
On September 4, The Wall Street Journal and news station KCBD reported that the FBI and law enforcement in Lubbock served a search warrant to a person of interest, suspected of illegally manufacturing and selling the rifle in connection with the shooting.{{cite web |title=FBI serves search warrant, apparently in connection with Midland/Odessa shootings |url=https://www.kcbd.com/2019/09/04/wsj-gun-used-by-midlandodessa-shooter-made-sold-illegally-by-lubbock-man/ |website=kcbd.com |publisher=KCBD |accessdate=September 4, 2019 |ref=Lubbock Search Warrant}}
Investigation showed that the rifle used in the shooting was purchased on October 8, 2016 from Marcus Anthony Braziel, 45, of Lubbock, Texas. Braziel pleaded guilty in October 2020 to one count of dealing firearms without a license and one count of subscribing to a false tax return related to his firearm dealing. He was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison. In a four-year span, Mr. Braziel inadvertently sold firearms to four prohibited persons: a convicted felon, a man under felony indictment, an immigrant in the U.S. illegally, and Mr. Ator, a man who the courts previously deemed unfit to possess a firearm.{{Cite web|author=KCBD Staff|title=Lubbock man who sold Midland/Odessa shooter AR-15, sentenced to 2 years in prison|url=https://www.kcbd.com/2021/01/07/lubbock-man-who-sold-midlandodessa-shooter-ar-sentenced-unlicensed-firearms-dealing/|access-date=2021-02-10|website=www.kcbd.com|date=January 8, 2021 |language=en-US}}
Aftermath
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin was placed on lockdown due to its proximity to the shooting.{{Cite news|url=https://people.com/crime/multiple-victims-in-texas-due-to-active-shooters/|title=At Least 5 Dead, 21 Injured in West Texas Shootings: Police|last=Slater|first=Georgia|date=|newspaper=People|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 1, 2019}}
Multiple politicians issued statements about the shooting, including President Donald Trump, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Texas Representative Mike Conaway, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.{{cite web |title=Officials release statements on Odessa shooting |url=https://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Officials-release-statements-on-Odessa-shooting-558984991.html |website=www.cbs7.com |accessdate=August 31, 2019 |language=english}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/1/20843331/west-texas-shooting-odessa-midland-democrats-republicans-donald-trump-gun-reform-prayers|title=Politicians call for culture shifts and new laws after another mass shooting. Neither seem likely.|last=van Wagtendonk|first=Anya|date=September 1, 2019|website=Vox|access-date=September 1, 2019}} Democrats generally urged more gun restriction laws, while Republicans offered prayers, called for cultural changes, and pointed out mental illness issues.
Texas State Representative Matt Schaefer, a Republican from Tyler, rejected calls for tighter gun restrictions, which he described as violating "God-given" gun rights; instead, Schaefer advocated a "YES to God" and a "YES to praying for protection".{{cite web|author=Kate Sullivan|title=Texas state lawmaker calls for 'praying for protection' instead of gun reform in wake of mass shooting |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/politics/texas-state-rep-praying-for-protection-shooting/index.html |publisher=CNN|accessdate=September 3, 2019 |date=September 1, 2019}}{{cite web |title=Texas politician rejects gun control, urges 'praying for protection' hours after mass shooting |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/texas-politician-rejects-gun-control-urges-praying-for-protection-hours-after-mass-shooting |date=September 1, 2019 |website=SBS World News |accessdate=September 3, 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Fearnow |first1=Benjamin |title=Texas Republican touts God, prayer in rant against gun control advocacy calls to 'do something' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/matt-schaefer-texas-republican-congressman-god-prayer-mass-shootings-twitter-victims-1457129 |website=Newsweek |accessdate=September 3, 2019 |date=September 1, 2019}} Schaefer's comments received national attention.{{cite web|author=Erin Mansfield|title=Tyler Rep. Matt Schaefer's gun comments provoke national rebuttal and support|url=https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/tyler-rep-matt-schaefer-s-gun-comments-provoke-national-rebuttal/article_a0e3abdc-ce93-11e9-a885-67f727bc914a.html|newspaper=Tyler Morning Telegraph|date=September 3, 2019 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/09/01/odessa-shooting-texas-lawmaker-doubles-down-gun-rights-viral-tweets/2187360001/|title=Odessa shooting: Texas lawmaker's defiant defense of gun rights sparks sharp debate|last=Moritz|first=John|date=September 1, 2019|website=USA Today|language=en-US|access-date=September 3, 2019}}
On September 4, Democrats in the Texas House held five press conferences in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso. Sixty-one members of the House Democratic Caucus signed a letter delivered to Governor Abbott asking him to call an emergency special session "on protecting Texans from gun violence," urging him to address the gun violence epidemic. In a statement, Abbott spokesman John Wittman said "Governor Abbott made clear in Odessa that all strategies are on the table that will lead to laws that make Texans safer. But that doesn’t include a helter-skelter approach that hastily calls for perfunctory votes that divide legislators along party lines. Instead, the Governor seeks consensus rather than division, The Democrats who are part of today’s partisan pitch can be part of the bi-partisan legislative process announced yesterday that is geared toward achieving real solutions, or they can be part of politics as usual that will accomplish nothing. Legislating on tough issues is hard and takes time. If Democrats really want to change the law, they need to stop talking to cameras and start talking to colleagues in the Capitol to reach consensus." In response, Donna Howard of the Texas House of Representatives, at a press conference in Austin said: "You know who can build a consensus is the Governor. If the Governor speaks up and says he will get behind certain legislation, we will have a consensus..."{{cite web |last1=Rapaport |first1=Wes |title=Texas House Democrats turn up the heat on Gov. Abbott to call special session on gun reform |url=https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-house-democrats-turn-up-the-heat-on-gov-abbott-to-call-special-session-on-gun-reform/ |website=KXAN.com |accessdate=September 4, 2019 |ref=Special Session |date=September 4, 2019}}
Also on September 4, during a visit with Midland and Odessa city and law enforcement leaders to talk about ways to prevent mass shootings, Cruz spoke with a local news station saying: "Much of my discussions with law enforcer [sic] today was what were the warning signs that we had that this individual had a serious mental illness that posed a danger to himself or to others... What could we have done better to stop this deranged criminal from getting a gun in the first place? And that’s going to be an ongoing discussion."{{cite web |last1=Battis |first1=Shane |title=Ted Cruz meets with city and law enforcement leaders, talks gun policy in wake of shooting |url=https://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Ted-Cruz-meets-with-city-and-law-enforcement-leaders-talks-gun-policy-in-wake-of-shooting-559421841.html |website=www.cbs7.com |accessdate=September 4, 2019 |language=english}}
On September 5, Abbott issued eight executive orders in response to the El Paso and Odessa-Midland mass shootings, in a statement Abbott said: “Texas must achieve several objectives to better protect our communities and our residents from mass shootings, I will continue to work expeditiously with the legislature on laws to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals, while safeguarding the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Texans.”{{cite web |last=Pollock |first=Cassandra |title=Gov. Greg Abbott issues 8 executive orders aimed at stopping potential mass shooters |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/05/texas-gov-greg-abbott-releases-executive-orders-after-mass-shootings/ |website=The Texas Tribune |accessdate=September 5, 2019 |ref=Abbott Executive Orders |language=en |date=September 5, 2019}}
Marcus Anthony Braziel, 45, of Lubbock, was sentenced to two years in prison in January 2021 for illegally selling the AR-15 style rifle that Seth Aaron Ator used in the shooting.{{cite news |title=Seller of gun used in 2019 Texas mass shooting gets 2 years |url=https://apnews.com/article/seth-aaron-ator-shootings-lubbock-texas-odessa-c18dce36fe8a5df583bdf5505ee8509b |access-date=January 9, 2021 |work=AP NEWS |date=7 January 2021}}
A memorial plaza, called the Bright Star Memorial Plaza, has been planned to be built on the University of Texas Permian Basin campus.{{Cite web |title=Bright Star Memorial Plaza - The University of Texas Permian Basin {{!}} UTPB |url=https://www.utpb.edu/give/brightstars |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=www.utpb.edu}}
See also
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References
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External links
- [https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Odessa-shooting-victim-s-names-released-14407712.php Midland Reporter-Telegram list of deceased and injured]
{{Midland, Texas}}
{{Odessa, Texas}}
Category:2019 mass shootings in the United States
Category:2019 murders in the United States
Category:August 2019 crimes in the United States
Category:Deaths by firearm in Texas
Category:Spree shootings in the United States
Category:Mass murder in the United States in the 2010s
Category:Mass shootings in Texas
Category:Vehicular rampage in the United States
Category:2010s vehicular rampage
Category:2010s road incidents in North America
Category:Hijackings in the 2010s