7 killed in West Texas shooting: Live updates | CNN (2024)

Our live coverage of the shooting in West Texas has ended. Read more about the rampage here.

The sister of a USPS carrier killed in the Saturday rampage said she was on the phone with her when she was fatally shot.

Rosie Granados said her twin sister, Mary, was near the end of her delivery route when they were chatting. That’s when she heard Mary scream. She thought maybe her sister was bitten by a dog.

Unsure what was going on, Rosie drove along Mary’s route.

“I went to help her out.And unfortunately, I did see herlaying on the ground,” she told CNN.

Watch more:

Mourners have gathered at theUniversity of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa tonight for a vigil to honor the victims of Saturday’s shooting rampage.

The mayors of both Odessa and Midland along with university officials were scheduled to address the crowd. Others representing some faith-based organizations are expected to speak at thevigil.

Video from the vigil showed a dancer performing a somber modern piece. Watch part of her performance in the video below:

Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team Unit are walking in and out of a small shack here in West Odessa, carrying out bags of what appear to be evidence collected from a scene connected to the shooter.

The property — a small tan structure made of metal — has had its door busted through, and authorities have taped off the area around it.

A law enforcement official told CNN earlier that the FBI was executing a search warrant at a property here believed to be connected to the shooter.

The property is off a dirt road in a rural community about 15 miles west of the movie theater where the gunman was taken down after the Saturday shooting spree.

A law enforcement official tells CNN authorities have not yet been unable to identify a motive in the Midland-Odessa shootings.

The source noted their investigation continues to try to determine what triggered the shootings.

The official indicated authorities expect to execute additional search warrants associated with the shooter.

A neighbor of the west Texas shooter says the 36-year-old came up to her house last month with a big rifle and yelled at her for leaving trash in a nearby dumpster.

Veronica Alonzo also described how her neighbor would frequently shoot out ofastructure on top of his house at night into his yard, often going to retrieve dead animals afterwards.

Investigators at the gunman’s home Sunday were seen placing dozens of small red flags in locations outside his property, around locations that Alonzo indicated he would shoot at.

Alonzo said she called police after the incident last month, but that they had never responded because the location of the property does not show up on GPS and is difficult to find.

Alonzo said that the shooter’s home had no running water or electricity. She said she saw him sitting in his gold Toyota Camry with the heat on when the weather was cold.

Dustin Fawcett told CNN he was with his 3-week-old daughter at Starbucks on Saturday, about 40-50 yards away from 42nd Street, when chaos erupted.

“We were in the parking lot and out of nowhere we begin to hear loud noises,”he told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on Sunday.

Fawcett said his first thought was that the sound was a truck backfiring.

“But it was repetitive and very loud,”he said.

He said 42nd Street is the town’s busiest intersection. The light was red before the shooting so cars were waiting there.

“Sitting ducks,” Fawcett said.

He then saw all the cars speed in different directions to get out of the way of gunfire.

Fawcett saw one of the vehicles’ windows were shattered.

“That was the first confirmation that this was a shooting,” he said.

Fawcett said he saw the mother getting out of the car with baby Anderson, the 17-month-old wounded in the shooting.

“It was surreal seeing the blood coming from her mouth and hands,”he said.

With an active shooter on the move and an ever-expanding crime scene where police at times lost track of the gunman who had switched vehicles, authorities were able to stop the gunman’s shooting spree by engineering a crash outside the Cinergy movie theater, according to Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf.

Police slammed a vehicle into the hijacked mail van the gunman was driving. The van was sent spinning into a group of cars and was then encircled by authorities in the parking lot, according to bystander video and Nodolf.

“Law enforcement at that point in time had collectively taken efforts to surround him, and he was not going to go anywhere, and he was not going to hurt anybody else,” Nodolf said in an interview.

Odessa and Midland police, as well as officers from the University of Texas Permian Basin, exchanged gunfire with the gunman, and were able to take him into custody after wounding him in the parking lot, Nodolf said.

A law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation gave CNN these images of the West Texas shooter, Seth Ator.

The source adds, “These two pictures are old. He looks different now.”

CNN affiliate KOSA-TV anchors were live on air at their studio in Music City Mall on Saturday when anchor Matthew Alvarez saw people running frantically.

The mall was being evacuated because of the shooting.

“There’s something going on over there,” Alvarez said on air to fellow anchor Jay Hendricks. “Jay we probably need to go. Jay we probably need to get off the air. Let’s go,”

“We’re going to leave the set,” Hendricks told viewers. “We’re going to step away just for a minute. We don’t know what’s going on. People running through the mall, so we need to see what this is.”

Alvarez told CNN on Sunday his mother was also in the studio with him.

“She was terrified,” Alvarez said.

Anderson Davis, the 17-month-old girl injured in the West Texas shooting, will be undergoing surgery Monday, according to her mother.

Anderson’s mother says she has shrapnel in her chest, her front teeth have been knocked out and she has hole through her bottom lip and tongue.

Anderson’s family issued a statement to CNN:

“Words cannot express the emotions we are experiencing after living through the tragic events that unfolded in our home town yesterday afternoon. Our hearts are extremely heavy today. Many good, innocent, people lost their lives and were injured yesterday. Please keep all individuals, family, and friends affected by this tragedy in your thoughts and prayers in the days, months, and years to come. Unfortunately, we cannot take back the tragic events that took place yesterday but now is the time to stand together as Texans, Americans, and most importantly as God’s people as we grieve and overcome this tragedy.

“The amount of love and support we have received from family, friends, and complete strangers is overwhelming. We are forever grateful for all of your thoughts, prayers, support, and donations. We ask for your continued prayers through this time of healing.

“All of the first responders, staff and physicians at MCHS, AeroCare, and the staff and physicians at UMC In Lubbock were and have been absolutely amazing. Each healthcare professional that has helped heal our daughter has treated her as their own and as parents we couldn’t have asked for anything more.

“Although there is so much to grieve today, there is so much to be thankful for. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you: strangers who offered to help us on the street, first responders (on duty and off duty), staff and physicians at MCHS, AeroCare Pilot/Nurse/Paramedic, staff and physicians at UMC in Lubbock, friends, family, and all else who we have not mentioned. The terror that flooded the streets of West Texas would not have been stopped without the effort each and every one of you put forth. Thank You!

“We praise God for walking beside us during this time and our prayers go out to all of the families that are walking this same walk. We hurt so badly for the families whose loved ones didn’t survive this tragedy. We are thankful for our beautiful baby girl and look forward to reuniting her at home with her twin brother soon.

Kelby and Garret Davis”

Letter carrier Mary Granados, 29, with the United States Postal Service was killed in the shootings in Odessa on Saturday, according to USPSInspection Service spokeswomanSilvia Torres.

The suspected shooter hijacked a postal truck during the shooting rampage Saturday.

Granados’ sister, Rosie, told CNN she was on the phone with her sister when she heard her scream.

“It was very painful. I just wanted to help her and I couldn’t. I thought she had got bitten by a dog or something. I tried calling her name and she wouldn’t answer,” she said.

The Medical Center Health System said in a Facebook post that Gov. Greg Abbott and other state politicians visited victims at the hospital Sunday.

“Our community needs support from everyone during this difficult time,” the post read.

Seth Ator has been identified as the shooter involved in Saturday’s West Texas shootings, according to multiple federal and local law enforcement officials.

During a news conference Sunday, Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke refused to name the shooter.

“I’m not going to give him any notoriety for what he did,” Gerke said.

Ator, 36, was arrested in 2001 for criminal trespassing and evading arrest, both misdemeanors, according to public records.Adjudication was deferred, though the details of the case are not immediately available.

Ator’s record also includes a 2018 traffic citation for a federal motor carrier safety violation, according to Ector County court records.

A LinkedIn account under Ator’s name said he was a truck driver. A Facebook page under his name contained only one publicly visible photo of the shooter posted in 2012, and the account has since been removed.

The FBI executed a search warrant Sunday at a rural property in West Odessa believed to be connected to the alleged shooter, according to a law enforcement official.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs said at an earlier news conference Sunday that investigators were conducting “searches at this exact moment in time to make sure that there is nobody else (is) even possibly connected to this.”

Combs affirmed the assessment by local police that authorities believe the shooter acted alone Saturday.

The FBI said they do not believe there is any connection to domestic or international terrorism in the Odessa and Midlandshootings from Saturday.

The suspect in the Odessa and Midland, Texas, shooting used an AR-type weapon according to Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs said his agency responds to Texas frequently. The FBI is “here now almost every other week supporting our local and state partners on active shooters. We’re almost every two weeks an active shooter in this country,” he said.

The suspect has an Ector County address, Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said.He did not release the shooter’s name.

Combs did say they are serving a federal search warrant in the area, but added there are numerous incident scenes across the area.

Following the shooting in Odessa and Midland, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott commented on the many high-profile shootings that have occurred in his state since he took office.

“I have been to too many of these events,” Abbott said.

Abbott named several shootings that have occurred during his term, including the Dallas shootings that killed police officers, then Sutherland Springs, then Santa Fe High School, then El Paso and now Odessa and Midland.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the mother of a 17-month-old girl who was injured in the shooting texted him about her daughter’s condition.

“Toddlersare funny because they can getshot but still want to runaround and play,” the mother texted, according to Abbott.

The governor went on to read a portion of the mother’s text message:

Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said officials are confident there was only one shooter in yesterday’s rampage across West Texas.

“Initially it was thought that there may have been multiple shooters, and that is because at some point this subject changed vehicles. We’re now confident that there was just the one actor,” he said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

Gerke made a point not to name the suspect, saying officials would release the name later, and not on a public stage.

Any minute now, Texas officials are expected to give an update on yesterday’s mass shooting in West Texas.

Here are the people and organizations expected to speak:

You can watch the briefing in the video player above (Refresh your page if you don’t see it).

Blood service provider Vitalant in Midland is accepting blood donations throughout the day following the mass shooting in Odessa, according to CNN affiliate KOSA.

Vitalant can be found in the shopping center at 4706 North Midkiff Road on the loop.

Appointments can be madeonlineor call Vitalant at (432) 520-4952.

A handful of restaurants around Odessa, Texas, are offering free meals to first responders today, according to CNN affiliate KOSA.

They are…

Mary Granados, 29, was working as a mail carrier for USPS and at the end of her shift when she was shot and killed, according to her twin sister, Rosie.

Rosie said she was on the phone with her sister when she heard her scream.

“It was very painful. I just wanted to help her and I couldn’t I thought she had got bite by a dog or something. I tried calling her name and she wouldn’t answer,” she said.

Rosie lived with her sister and knew her route, so she got in the car to find her.

Rosie said that Mary loved traveling with her boyfriend and spending time with family. They moved to Odessa when they were 14 from Juarez and attended Permian High School.

Rosie said Mary had been working at the USPS for about a year. One of her co-workers, Leslie Aide,started a GoFundMe for her last night.

“I had the privilege to work with Mary before she started her career at USPS, she was beautiful inside and out, with a great heart and always ready to be a friend, always had a smile on her face!,” Aide wrote on GoFundMe.

Odessa resident Mckayla Salcido’s doorbell camera showed Granados delivering mail on Saturday before the shooting:

Carolyn Kaster/AP

President Trump stayed clear of calling for stronger gun control measures, including background checks, following Saturday’s mass shooting in Texas that left seven people dead.

“We have a lot of groups working on it,” Trump said. “I’ve been speaking to a lot of senators, a lot of house members … People want to do something.”

The President said yesterday’s shooting didn’t impact what was happening in Congress.

“This really hasn’t changed anything, we’re doing a package,” he said. “That’s irrespective of what happened yesterday in Texas.”

The administration is looking at different bills, ideas, and concepts, Trump said. He didn’t get too specific about what was being looked at but seemed to speak out against stronger background checks.

“It’s a big problem,” Trump said. “It’s a mental problem, it’s a big problem.” He called the shooter, “another very sick person.”

Trump also also thanked first responders, calling them, “incredible.”

President Trump thanked the Texas law enforcement officers and first responders who responded to yesterday’s shooting rampage.

“A very tough and sad situation!” he tweeted.

Here’s his full message:

The West Texas shooting rampage happened hours before a series of firearm laws went into effect in Texas, where four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history have occurred.

The new measures will loosen gun restrictions and allowweapons on school grounds,apartments and places of worship.

After the shooting Saturday, Democratic presidential candidates issued statements calling for gun reform.

“Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa, and everyone in West Texas who has to endure this again … We need to end this epidemic,” Texas native Beto O’Rourketweeted.

Julián Castro, another Democratic presidential candidate, said the shootings will continue if no action is taken. “We have to be more honest with ourselves. This is going to happen again. And again,” he tweeted.

Vice President Mike Pence said he and President Trump are determined to work with Congress “to address and confront this scourge of mass atrocity in our country.”

A funeral home in Midland County is offering free services for shooting victims.

American Heritage Cemetery & Funeral Home is located in the middle of Odessa and Midland and services both cities.

Amanda Brewer, assistant funeral director, spoke to CNN about the company’s decision to offer this.

“We just wanted to put that out there so people can focus on grieving not cost,” she added.

Brewer said she was at home for her kid’s birthday party when the news broke. She said all the adults were huddled in a bedroom listening to police scanners and watching the news.

“We would never expect something like this to happen here,” she said.

A man who was pulled over by Texas troopers shot at them with a rifle and sped away, setting off a terrifying rampage that ended with seven victims and the shooter dead, police said.

After he opened fire during a traffic stop Saturday in Midland, the gunman drove on the streets and the highway, spraying bullets randomly at residents and motorists.

He then hijacked a postal truck and ditched his gold Honda, shooting at people as he made his way into Odessa about 20 miles away. There, police confronted him in a movie theater parking lot and killed him in a shootout.

About 20 people were also injured. Those included a 17-month-old girl and three law enforcement officers, hospital and police officials said.

It’s unclear why police pulled over the unidentified gunman or what his motive was. Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke described him as a white male in his 30s but declined to provide additional information.