The twin sister of the United States Postal Service driver who was fatally shot during the western Texas shooting rampage on Saturday says she heard her screaming while on the phone with her, prompting her to drive to the scene where she discovered her body lying on the ground.
‘I heard her screaming and I wasn’t sure what she was going through,’ Rosie Granados told CNN in a heartbreaking interview on Sunday.
Her twin sister, Mary, 29, was one of at least seven people who was killed during the shooting spree.
She was shot and killed when the gunman, Seth Ator, 36, stole her truck as she was delivering mail and talking to her twin sister, Rosie, on the phone.
Rosie Granados (left), twin sister of Mary Granados, tearfully recalled being on the phone with Mary the moment she was fatally shot. Mary Granados, 29, was a mail carrier for the postal service. She was alone in her postal van when she was fatally shot by Seth Ator, 36, on Saturday. Ator then hijacked her van and opened fire at random people, killing six others and wounding 22
‘We made so many memories,’ Rosie Granados (left) said of her sister, Mary (right). ‘She was part of my life, part of my whole world, and she was taken away from me, my mother, my family.’
A former coworker set up a GoFundMe for Granados, which has raised nearly $32,000 as of late Sunday night
The 29-year-old was near the end of her shift Saturday and chatting with her sister when their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the mail carrier’s terrified scream.
‘I tried calling her name and she wouldn’t answer,’ Rosie Granados said.
A former coworker set up a GoFundMe for Granados, which has raised nearly $32,000 as of late Sunday 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!’ the page said.
A witness told News West 9 her brother saw the attack from the living room at his home.
‘He said that man was grabbing her somehow, and she was saying: “No no! Please!” and he shot her in the hip,’ the witness said.
Moments before Ator hijacked the van, state troopers tried to pull him over for a speeding violation, but he sped away.
It was learned on Sunday that Ator went on his rampage just hours after he was fired from his trucking job, according to The New York Times.
Seth Ator (left), 36, has been identified as the gunman who went on a shooting rampage in western Texas on Saturday that left at least seven people dead and nearly two dozen wounded. At a press conference earlier on Sunday, Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said authorities would not name the gunman because they do not want to give him notoriety
An FBI agent is seen above at the home of Seth Ator in Odessa, Texas. Ator is the gunman who killed at least seven people and wounded 22 during a shooting rampage in western Texas on Saturday
Investigators are seen above gathering evidence at Ator’s home in Odessa on Sunday
While authorities have yet to pinpoint a motive, they say that hours before the shooting Ator was fired from his trucking job
After speeding away from the state troopers during the failed traffic stop, Ator hijacked the postal van and killed Mary Granados.
He then started randomly shooting passersby, killing at least six more and wounding 22 others.
The harrowing episode ended when Ator slammed the postal van into a police cruise outside a movie theater in Odessa, where officers shot him dead.
Rosie Granados told CNN: ‘I was just hearing her cry and scream for help and I didn’t know what was happening to her.
‘I thought it was just a dog attacking her, and my first response was to get in the car and go where she was to go help her.
‘I went to help her out and unfortunately I did see her lying on the ground.’
Hundreds of West Texas residents stood and bowed their heads together, reciting the Lord’s Prayer at a vigil for those killed in Saturday’s mass shooting.
In Spanish and English, pastors asked those gathered at the University of Texas Permian Basin on Sunday night to pray for the dead and the injured.
Together they gave thanks for the police, nurses and others who responded to the tragedy in Odessa and Midland, Texas.
Throughout the day, residents had struggled to understand how their remote communities in the heart of Texas oil country about 350 miles west of Dallas, could be the site of such violence.
With law enforcement yet to offer a motive for the shootings, Midland Mayor Jerry Morales echoed the frustration.
Morales said: ‘We’re out here in the middle of nowhere.’
He added: ‘All we’ve talked about is oil forever. And then this happens.’
Odessa Mayor David Turner said: ‘We will get through the tragedy. We will show our beloved state and nation what it means to be Permian Basin strong.’
Celia Lopez and Sajeili Carrasco embrace before a vigil at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa on Sunday
Katelyn Cooper pets a comfort dog during a vigil in Odessa for the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting
In Spanish and English, pastors asked those gathered at the University of Texas Permian Basin on Sunday night to pray for the dead and the injured
Odessa Mayor David Turner said: ‘We will get through the tragedy. We will show our beloved state and nation what it means to be Permian Basin strong.’
Earlier on Sunday, investigators were seen gathering evidence at Ator’s home in Odessa.
Authorities on Sunday released Ator’s photograph but said that they did not have a motive for the shooting yet.
Police had previously only said that the suspect was a white male in his 30s.
Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said during a news conference that the shooter ‘showed up at a movie theater which would tend to show his motive.’
He also suggested that more people could’ve died if police hadn’t killed him outside the cinema, according to Fox News.
It’s unclear how much ammunition Ator had with him when the shooting spree started and whether the traffic stop inspired, interrupted or altered larger plans he might’ve had for the shootings.
Gerke had refused to say Ator’s name during the press conference, saying that he would not reveal the shooter’s identity because he did not want to give him notoriety.
‘I’m not going to give him any notoriety for what he did,’ Gerke said.
Gerke said that authorities would eventually reveal the suspect’s name, though he refused to do it in a public forum.
Later on Sunday, the Odessa Police Department posted an update on its Facebook page which included the suspect’s name and age. The post also indicated that Ator was a resident of Odessa.
Earlier on Sunday, Ator was identified as the suspect in a number of media reports that cited anonymous law enforcement officials.
During his news conference, Gerke did confirm that the suspect was a resident of Ector County with a criminal record and that he used an AR-style rifle to carry out the shooting, which left seven dead – ranging in age from 15 to 57 – and 22 injured.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs said during the news conference that Ator didn’t have any apparent connections to terror groups, but that he did have a criminal record. No specifics were provided about those charges.
Texas Gov Greg Abbott also spoke at Sunday’s press conference and told affected residents: ‘All Texans stand with you.’
‘As governor I have been to too many of these events,’ Abbott said. ‘I am heartbroken by the crying of the people in the state of Texas. I am tired of the dying of the people of Texas. Too many Texans are in mourning. Too many Texans have lost their lives. The status quo in Texas is unacceptable, and action is needed.
‘Words alone are inadequate. Words must be met with actions.
‘We have been working on solutions. We must broaden our efforts and we must do so quickly.’
Gerke (center) said the gunman was a resident of Ector County with a criminal record and that he used an AK-style rifle. Two law enforcement officials confirmed that the suspect is 36-year-old Seth Ator soon after the press conference
Texas Gov Greg Abbott also spoke at Sunday’s press conference and told affected residents: ‘All Texans stand with you’
Abbott came under fire on Twitter as critics labeled him a hypocrite for saying action needs to be taken on the same day that nine new gun measures loosening firearm restrictions in Texas went into effect after he signed them into law earlier this summer.
‘@GovAbbott says he’s tired of #massshooting. If only he had the power to do something about it. Empty words again,’ one person tweeted.
‘I can’t believe you can sit there and read about that child being shot in the face when you signed legislation that made it easier to get guns keep guns use guns? Reprehensible,’ another wrote.
Saturday’s active shooter situation began at about 3.15pm CST after Texas Department of Public Safety officers attempted to stop a man who failed to signal on a left turn on Interstate 20.
The driver, who was alone in a gold pickup truck, slowed but did not stop, and fired a rifle through the rear window of the truck, striking one of the two officers.
The shooter fled westbound on the interstate, and shooting at a civilian at east Loop 338 and I-20. The suspect proceeded on a shooting spree as he entered Odessa and stole a mail carrier truck before being cornered at the Cinergy on Highway 191.
Witness video shows police confronting the suspect outside of the theater and engaging in a shootout.
Police initially reported that there could be more than one shooter, but Gerke said authorities now believe it was only one.
‘Once this individual was taken out of the picture, there have been no more victims,’ Gerke said.
Police surrounded the suspect in a vehicle and killed him in a shootout behind the Cinergy theater in Odessa
Police are seen evacuating people from the theater after the gunman was taken down at around 4.30pm Saturday
The death toll in the mass shooting in West Texas rose to seven on Sunday after two additional victims died in the hospital.
Odessa police spokesman Steve LeSueur announced that at least one of the 19 others injured remains in ‘life-threatening’ condition.
Authorities have not identified any of the victims, but several have been named publicly by family members.
The youngest victim injured was 17-month-old Anderson Davis, who was airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock after she was struck in the face and chest by shrapnel, according to her mother.
‘Her vitals are good. She is being flown to Lubbock while we drive. Not getting to fly with her is beyond painful,’ her mother, Kelby Giesler Davis, wrote on the GoFundMe page which has raised over $105,000 as of Sunday morning.
‘Anderson is 17 months old, has shrapnel in her right chest, which thank God is superficial. She has a hole through her bottom lip and tongue and her front teeth were knocked out,’ Davis wrote.
‘She is alive. When others today are not alive. I ask you to continue praying for our hearts as we experience this, pray for complete healing of Anderson, pray for every other family in our same situation, or worse, today and pray for the shooters. Pray that whatever is causing them to do this will be defeated by God and they will stop shooting.’
At Sunday’s press conference Abbott read aloud a text message he’d received from Davis.
‘Thank you all for praying. This is all of our worst nightmare, but thank god she’s alive and relatively well,’ the message said.
‘Toddlers are funny because they can get shot but still want to run around and play. We are thanking God for that.’
Leila Hernandez, 15, has been named among the at least seven people killed and 19 injured when a gunman hijacked a postal truck and began firing indiscriminately in the neighboring cities of Midland and Odessa, Texas
The youngest victim killed was 15-year-old high school student Leila Hernandez, whose loved ones described her as a ‘sweet girl with a big heart’ who recently celebrated her quinceañera.
Leila’s brother Nathan was also injured in the rampage and underwent surgery, according to a GoFundMe that has raised over $8,400 for the Hernandez family as of Sunday morning.
A woman who photographed 15-year-old victim Leila for her quinceañera in May shared a photo of her from the celebration along with a touching tribute.
‘We are so heartbroken to hear that our dear friend Leila Hernandez, has passed away to be with our Lord Jesus. We still don’t want to believe it,’ Mayra Cortinas wrote on Facebook.
‘She was a victim in the tragic event that took place today in Odessa. We are grateful to have been a part of her life, and it hurts our hearts greatly that she is no longer with us on this earth. We had the privilege to have captured her & her families memories in her quince.
‘She wasn’t just a client, she was a good friend of ours. Such a sweet girl, with such a big heart. Beautiful inside and out. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. May you rest in peace Leila. You will be missed.’
Another tribute was shared on the Facebook page Makeup by Jeremy by the person who did her makeup for the quinceañera.
‘I am in total shock and disbelief. I had just did Leila’s makeup and her family’s back in May for her quinceañera. Unfortunately this beautiful sweet soul was victim to the shootings that took place in Odessa today,’ the post said.
‘Prayers to you Joanna Leyva and may God be there for you and your family through this difficult time.’
Yasmin Natera, 16, a friend of Hernandez, told the New York Post: ‘[Leilah] was full of joy and happiness. Knows how to make someone’s bad day turn into a good day.
‘She kept people out of trouble.’
Scott Muri, superintendent of the Ector County Independent School District that Leila attended, released a statement about the shooting without identifying her.
‘We are devastated by today’s violence, which claimed the lives of five people including one of our Odessa High School students,’ Muri wrote.
‘Our lives have been changed forever because of these events. ECISD counselors as well as counselors from the entire region are preparing to offer services to our students, staff and families. We will commit all the resources we have available to help our community heal from this horrific tragedy.
‘The first responders in the Odessa community, including our ECISD Police Officers, have been outstanding and prevented an even greater loss of life.’
Seventeen-month-old Anderson Davis is also in the hospital, having been struck in the face and chest by shrapnel
Three police officers were wounded in the shooting, including Zack Owens (above). The Midland police officer was shot multiple times in the arm and hand and suffered glass shards in his eye, according to a GoFundMe launched by his family
Anderson Davis of Odessa is the 17-month-old baby that was hit with a bullet fragment from the Odessa, Texas shooting. She is seen in Facebook photos with her mother Kelby Giesler Davis, father Garret Davis, and her twin brother Rhett
A woman who photographed 15-year-old victim Leila for her quinceañera in May shared a photo of her from the celebration (above) along with a touching tribute. Another tribute was shared by the person who did her makeup for the quinceañera. ‘I am in total shock and disbelief,’ the post said, calling Leila a ‘beautiful sweet soul’
Midland Police Officer Zack Owens (far right) was on duty when he was shot, his family said. His condition is unknown but the GoFundMe campaign indicated that his most critical injury was the glass in his eye
‘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!’ the page said.
A witness told News West 9 her brother saw the attack from the living room at his home.
‘He said that man was grabbing her somehow, and she was saying: “No no! Please!” and he shot her in the hip,’ the witness said.
Three members of law enforcement were wounded in the shooting, including Midland Police Officer Zack Owens.
He was on duty when he was shot multiple times in the arm and hand and suffered glass shards in his eye, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched by his family.
Owens’ condition is unknown but the GoFundMe campaign indicated that his most critical injury was the glass in his eye.
‘Please keep Zack in your prayers as we don’t know the outcome of the situation at this time,’ Abigail McCullough, who is married to the officer’s cousin Justin, wrote on the fundraising page.
All three officers injured in the shooting are expected to survive, according to officials.
Medical Center Hospital in Odessa admitted 13 victims related to the shooting, said Russel Tippin, CEO Medical Center Health System, at a press conference.
Of those 13, one is deceased, seven are in critical condition, two are in serious condition, two have been treated and released, and one is a child under the age of two who has been transferred to a pediatric facility.
Tippin said that the hospital has a staging area for families of the victims, and remains on lockdown for the security of patients and staff.
‘Right now the hospital is stable, its secure,’ he said.
‘Everyone hearing the sound of my voice, you need to grab on to your loved ones and hold them tight and pray for this town and the victims,’ Tippin said.
Authorities have yet to officially confirm the identities of the victims or the gunman, believed to be a white male in his 30s, who was shot and killed by police in the parking lot of the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa on Saturday afternoon. Police cars and tape block off the crime scene Saturday night (above)
Odessa and Midland police and sheriff’s deputies surround the area behind Cinergy in Odessa after reports of the shooting
The gunman traveled along I-20 and State Highway 191, which connect neighboring West Texas cities Odessa and Midland
Several witness videos captured the gunman’s rampage from Interstate 20 into Odessa.
One clip shows people fleeing the movie theater where the standoff occurred as police armed with rifles rush inside. ‘There’s a shooter!’ one of the fleeing moviegoers shouts.
In another clip a family can be seen trying to hide from gunfire.
The 50-second video shared on Facebook by Antonio Orozco Garcia is captioned: ‘Dios mio por favor protegenos’ – which translates to: ‘My God, please protect us.’
A couple women can be seen trying to cover young children on the ground as a man yells: ‘Get down! Get down! I got you, I got you.’
The children scream in terror as the shots ring out and the man tries to calm them down.
‘Who’s shooting, Dad?’ a child asks.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay,’ the man says before shouting to people in the vicinity to ask how they’re doing.
The video ends abruptly before anyone appears to have been injured, but the group’s fate remains unclear.
Frightening footage appears to show a family trying to hide from gunfire during the deadly rampage. The 50-second video shared on Facebook by Antonio Orozco Garcia is captioned: ‘Dios mio por favor protegenos’ – which translates to: ‘My God, please protect us’
Authorities control traffic on the E 42nd Street in Odessa, Texas, Saturday. Several people were dead after a gunman who hijacked a postal service vehicle in West Texas shot more than 20 people
Authorities cordon off a part of the sidewalk in the 5100 block of E 42nd Street in Odessa, Texas, on Saturday
A man prays outside of the Medical Center Hospital Emergency room in Odessa following a shooting rampage
Dustin Fawcett was sitting in his truck at a Starbucks in Odessa when he heard at least six gunshots ring out less than 50 yards behind him.
At first, he thought it might have been a tire blowing but he heard more shots and spotted a white sedan with a passenger window that had been shattered. That’s when he thought, ‘Oh man, this is a shooting.’
Fawcett, 28, an Odessa transportation consultant, ‘got out to make sure everyone was safe’ but found that no one had been struck by the gunfire nearby. He said a little girl was bleeding, but she hadn’t been shot, and that he found out she was grazed in the face.
Fawcett said authorities responded quickly and when police pulled out their rifles and vests he knew that ‘this is not a drive-by. This is something else, this is something bigger.’
As Odessa television station KOSA aired breaking developments on live TV, their broadcast was interrupted by police telling them they had to clear the area.
A law enforcement officer stands in the middle of the 5100 block of E 42nd Street in Odessa, Texas, Saturday
Police are seen responding to an active shooter situation on the roads near Midland and Odessa, Texas
A truck with what appears to be damage from multiple bullets is seen on Interstate 20 near Midland and Odessa
‘There is no active shooter at this time. All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects,’ the Midland Police Department said in statement at 6.30pm ET.
‘The shooter is going around shooting moving vehicles. Stay off I-20 between Odessa and Midland,’ witness Ernest Villanueva wrote on Twitter, posting photos of bullet damage to two vehicles.
Police initially said there could have been two suspects in separate vehicles on the loose in the area.
The two suspect vehicles in question were described as: a gold or white small Toyota truck and a hijacked USPS Postal Van.
It is now believed that Ator switched vehicles at some point and hijacked the postal van.
The chaotic situation spurred reports of shootings along I-20, along Loop 250 in Midland, and at a Home Depot in Odessa.
‘The shooter is going around shooting moving vehicles. Stay off I-20 between Odessa and Midland,’ a witness said
Residents are seen apparently helping a wounded victim after the shooting rampage in Texas
Bullet damage is seen to the windshield of a vehicle in the aftermath of the shooting rampage in Texas
The shooting comes just weeks after a gunman killed 22 people after opening fire at a Walmart in the Texas border city of El Paso, which is just over 300 miles from Odessa.
‘Just briefed by Attorney General Barr about the shootings in Texas. FBI and Law Enforcement is fully engaged,’ Trump wrote in a tweet.
Vice President Mike Pence said following the shooting that Trump and his administration ‘remain absolutely determined’ to work with leaders in both parties in Congress to take such steps ‘so we can address and confront this scourge of mass atrocities in our country.’
Preparing to fly to Poland, Pence told reporters that Trump is ‘fully engaged’ and closely monitoring the investigation.
He said: ‘Our hearts go out to all the victims, the families and loved ones.’ He also commended law enforcement ‘for their swift, courageous response.’
Pence said Trump has deployed the federal government in response to the shootings.
He added that Trump has spoken to the attorney general and that the FBI is already assisting local law enforcement.
Many of the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination also issued statements in response to the shooting.
‘I’m heartsick for the victims of this latest mass shooting in Odessa and Midland. We shouldn’t have to live with this near daily fear and horror. We’ve already lost far too many to gun violence—Congress must act now,’ wrote Sentor Elizabeth Warren.
‘I’m sick of this. America is sick of this. We need to act,’ wrote Senator Kamala Harris.
Businessman Andrew Yang wrote: ‘We are the only country that struggles with gun violence at this level. Other countries respond to tragedy. We must as well. Our people deserve better than to live in fear and be struck down at random. We are better than this. We will do better for our kids.’
Beto O’Rourke, a former congressman from Texas, tweeted in both Spanish and English: ‘Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa, and everyone in West Texas who has to endure this again. More information is forthcoming, but here’s what we know: We need to end this epidemic.’