West Texas Gunman Leaves 7 Dead, 22 Injured in Shooting Spree

Seth Ator, 36, went on a deadly shooting rampage from Midland to Odessa, Texas on Saturday. Ator fatally shot 7 and injured 22 in the shooting spree.

• By Sherelle Black
• Sep 02, 2019

Over the Labor Day weekend, a West Texas man was pulled over by troopers and shot at them with a rifle and sped away, which led the man to go on a shooting spree that left seven dead on Saturday.

Law enforcement identified the shooter as 36-year-old Seth Ator.After speeding away from troopers after he was stopped for failing to signal a left turn, Ator randomly shot at residents and motorists while driving. He hijacked a postal truck and made his way to Odessa from Midland. There, police confronted him and killed him in a shootout.

The New York Times reported Ator was fired from his trucking job hours before the shooting spree occurred.

Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said those fatally shot were between 15 and 57 years old. Ator also injured 22 people. The youngest was a 17-month-old girl who sustained injuries that included shrapnel in her chest.

This is the second shooting to happen in Texas in less than a month. A shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, about 285 miles west of Odessa happened Aug. 3.

In a news conference Sunday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott spoke about the shooting.

“I’m heartbroken by the crying of the people of the State of Texas,” Abbott said. “I’m tired of the dying of the people of the state 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.”