Death Toll Likely Would Have Been Higher If Gunman Had Made It To Movie Theater, Local Officials Say
The FBI says that 36-year-old Seth Ator "was on a long spiral of going down" while he terrorized two Texas towns with an assault-style rifle, leaving at least 21 wounded and 7 dead. FBI special agent Christopher Combs said Ator called the agency's tip line as well as local police dispatch on Saturday after being fired from his job. But "he didn't wake up Saturday morning and walk into his company and then it happened. He went to that company in trouble," Comb said.
The New York Times:
West Texas Shooting Spree Terrorized Two Towns And Killed 7
The 36-year-old man who terrorized two West Texas towns with an assault-style rifle Saturday had been fired from his trucking job a few hours before he led the authorities on a chaotic high-speed chase that ended with his death and the deaths of seven others. Along a 15-mile stretch between the sister cities of Midland and Odessa, the aftermath of the gunman’s rampage — in which he indiscriminately fired on motorists and police officers with an AR-15-style rifle while driving — clashed with the typically serene and dusty rural landscape of the region. (Holt and Fernandez, 9/1)
The New York Times:
Texas Gunman: From Small-Time Troublemaker To Mass Killer
Monette Rodriguez remembers the oil field truck-driver who lived at the Peppertree Place Apartments. He had the phrase “Oilfield Mafia” displayed on the back window of his blue Dodge Challenger. And he liked to party — neighbors complained that women made frequent visits at all hours of the night to his apartment. The truck driver was Seth A. Ator, 36, the gunman who waged a mobile mass shooting that spread panic and bloodshed across the West Texas sister cities of Midland and Odessa on Saturday. (Mervosh, Holt and Fernandez, 9/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
Death Toll Rises To Seven In Texas Rampage
In a news conference Sunday, officials praised local law enforcement for stopping the shooter, speculating that he may have been heading into the Cinergy movie theater when he was killed. “Why would you go to a theater if you’re not planning on going into the theater?” Police Chief Michael Gerke said, adding that the movie theater is one of the most crowded places in Odessa on a Saturday. (Findell, 9/1)
The Associated Press:
FBI: West Texas Gunman 'Was On A Long Spiral Of Going Down'
The gunman in a West Texas rampage "was on a long spiral of going down" and had been fired from his oil services job the morning he killed seven people, calling 911 both before and after the shooting began, authorities said Monday. Officers killed 36-year-old Seth Aaron Ator on Saturday outside a busy Odessa movie theater after a spate of violence that spanned 10 miles, injuring at least 25 people in addition to the dead, authorities said. (9/2)
The Washington Post:
Texas Gunman Who Killed 7 Was Fired From Job On Day Of Rampage
Authorities said Monday that Seth Aaron Ator, 36, had reached out to police and to the FBI after he was let go from Journey Oilfield Services. He and his employer called the Odessa Police Department that morning, police said. When police officers arrived at the company’s office, Ator had left. “Basically, they were complaining on each other” over the firing, Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said. Ator did not make threats of violence. Later in the day, Ator left a “rambling” statement with an FBI tip line but did not make a specific threat, FBI special agent Christopher Combs said during a news conference Monday. (Guarino, 9/2)
NPR:
Texas Gunman Who Killed 7 Had Been Fired Just Hours Before Shootings
"It was, frankly, rambling statements about some of the atrocities that he felt that he had gone through," explained FBI special agent Christopher Combs during a news conference in West Texas on Monday afternoon. "He did not make a threat during that phone call," Combs said. The agency initiated procedures "trying to figure out who he was, where he was," Combs said. "Unfortunately, it was only 15 minutes before the trooper was engaged." (Aubrey, 9/2)
Houston Chronicle:
'Only God Can Heal This Drastically': Mother Shares Update On 17-Month-Old Hurt In Texas Shooting
The mother of a 17-month-old girl that was shot during the mass shooting in Odessa and Midland Saturday recently gave an emotional update on the status of her baby that is warming hearts across the state. Kelby Giesler Davis was sitting at a red light in Odessa when a bullet from the gunman, now identified as 36-year-old Seth Ator, went through her family's car, striking her baby girl Anderson in the mouth and chest. (Hennes, 9/2)
Dallas Morning News:
What We Know About The Victims Of The Midland-Odessa Mass Shooting
The names of the seven victims killed and the 25 injured in Saturday's mass shooting in Odessa and Midland are slowly being released to the public. The dead include a mail carrier and a high school sophomore. Among the wounded were a toddler, a father and members of law enforcement who were caught on the road when the gunman opened fire. (Emily, Branham and Steele, 9/2)
USA Today:
Texas Shooting Unites Odessa Teens 'As One' To Make A Difference
They gathered as the children they are near the statue of a cowboy-hat wearing Prairie Dog in Prairie Pete Playland Park. But they left radiating the best qualities of adulthood — defiance, determination and benevolence. Nearly 100 teens from two area high schools, Odessa High School and Permian High School, met Monday evening with the simple purpose of deciding how they could help the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting, which has left seven dead and 25 wounded. (Della Cava, Schroeder and Frank, 9/2)
