Local News

Five Years Later: Odessa’s dark day remembered

August 24, 2024

A view of the Bright Star Memorial in the sunlight. UTPB will host the Bright Star Memorial Dedication sunset service at 8 p.m. Aug. 29. (Courtesy Photo)

As the community reaches the five-year anniversary of the Aug. 31, 2019, mass shooting, it’s a time for remembrance and reflection.

UT Permian Basin will host the Bright Star Memorial Dedication sunset service at 8 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Bright Star Memorial Site on the UTPB campus off Loop 338. Park next to the sports field to access it.

There will be a ceremony and time to reflect for the victims of the Aug. 31, 2019, shooting.

Seven people were killed and 25 injured. The gunman, Seth Ator, who was traveling between Midland and Odessa during the mass shooting, was shot and killed by multiple law enforcement agencies as they made a final stand in a field near Cinergy Theatre.

Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis was at the Lowe’s on Eighth Street and Grandview Avenue in his personal truck on the day of the shootings. He had his portable radio with him and heard about the second person being shot.

He sent a text to fellow law enforcement chiefs and his own administration and told the captain to get everybody that had a car available on the street “to try to locate this guy.”

“I proceeded to go on home, and it was on a weekend day. I had my shorts and flip flops on, and I went home and put my blue jeans on, and my boots, got my gun rig and took off,” Griffis recalled.

“I mean, it’s just crazy, you know. When I first left my house, I saw an ECISD car going in a northern direction, so I kind of fell in behind him,” he added.

Meanwhile, Griffis said a friend who was a local businessman called him and said he had a “couple of helicopters,” and could Griffis send somebody to get in one of them.

“Let’s find this guy. And so I did and they actually got to Cinergy apparently, right after they had neutralized the individual. … God forbid anything happened like that again, he’s going to be one of my first calls. I’ll put somebody in there with him,” Griffis said.

“When I’d heard that the guy was neutralized and I went to the police department, and (OPD Chief) Mike Gerke and I got in the car and we went to the hospital, I believe my recollection is correct and checked on the peace officers and the other folks that we could that had been shot.”

Griffis also got a call from then U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway making sure they knew federal resources were available if they needed anything.

“We played a … fairly minor role in the whole thing. (Odessa Police Chief) Mike Gerke did an excellent job commanding his personnel and to do the right things at the right time and some of our folks helped with some scenes around the county. And of course, other than that, we were just there for support and to make sure everybody knew that we were all going to be okay,” Griffis said.

Ator switched vehicles during the shooting. Griffis said if he had carjacked another vehicle, you wouldn’t know it for some minutes.

He noted that mass shootings happen all the time all over the country. The difference with this one was that it was mobile.

Contractors from McGough work to install the Bright Star Memorial on the UTPB campus. The installation was completed early the week of Aug. 19. (Courtesy Photo)

Seth Herman, who was police chief in Midland and is now police chief in Lubbock, and Gerke have been traveling around giving presentations on the mass shooting.

Griffis said he’s already contacted the Sheriff’s Association of Texas to see if they can book them for next year’s conference.

“I don’t know that there’s a perfect way to prepare for something like this, but since that has occurred … we’re in better shape than we were, because we’ve attained a fleet of vehicles, and everybody that takes a vehicle home is subject to call out. So if we put the call out that everybody get on the street for any specific purpose, which … would include a disaster of any kind, a tornado or whatever. But our job is to protect lives, first and foremost, and that is absolutely what we need to concentrate on,” Griffis said.

He added that it’s still heartbreaking to this day that all those lives were lost and many people injured.

Many years ago, Griffis recalls his first lieutenant telling him after a family tragedy that there are some things you don’t get over, you just learn how to live with it.

The mass shooting is one of those things.

“With the situation we had, I don’t think we could have done any better with what we had at the time. I think Chief Gerke and OPD did an excellent job; DPS …,” Griffis said.

“We had some heroes that day and finally neutralized that murderous monstrosity of a vermin.”

He added that the tragedy solidified their connection with each other “because we all went through it together.”

“As agency heads, we’re on the same team. We fall in to help each other. Anytime they call, we call, whatever, anytime, anyplace, for anything. That’s the only good thing we can do is work together, collaborate, cooperate and work better together.”

Griffis said he plans to attend the memorial.

“Just pray to God nothing like this will happen again anywhere. I mean, the killing of innocent civilian people. It’s just senseless and just heart wrenching, not only for those loved ones, but for the community, it’s sad,” he added.

Renee Earls, president and CEO of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, has stayed in touch with the families of the victims and those who survived the mass shooting over the years.

“We raised funds through our Odessa Community Foundation for those impacted directly, for those who lost family members, those who were injured. We had people bringing us money every day through tattoo shops doing tattoos to restaurants giving all of their proceeds to companies making donations to individuals, selling T- shirts.

“It was incredible to see how these people could come together in the face of such tragedy. Sadly, we are one of those communities that joined that list,” Earls said.

Through State Chamber, they have a disaster and tragedy committee. It started off as natural disasters, but tragedy has been added to offer resources to other communities who go through this.

“I know we were immediately contacted from other chambers who had gone through this prior just with ideas and ways of trying to help serve,” Earls said. “So did we retain its unity? Once a year we go back, we’ve had that sunrise service. We put out the yellow flags at Memorial Park. I would say around this time, we do come back together and remember where you were, remember what you were doing, so we do unify in that way.”

Maybe, she said, we need to unify more and remember what’s really important “that all this mess around us does not matter, but what matters is relationships and people.”

“That’s what it’s all about,” Earls added.

She said she didn’t realize until a couple of months into fundraising efforts how the mass shooting impacted her personally. Talking about it, her eyes well with tears.

“I met with each person and each family, and I didn’t realize until later how much it impacted me. I started dreaming. It really impacted me more so than I ever imagined. I’ve been able to maintain these relationships with these families and people who were impacted, who moved away, who are here, or who don’t live here. But through all of this, I’ve contacted them, and some people are able to come, and some people aren’t; some I’ve never even met in person, but I’ve talked to them on the phone. … For me, there is a special bond with these families that were impacted by this. Some of them don’t want to come back to Odessa, understandably, and so when I talk with them, I want them to understand how much the community still thinks of them and supports them and literally prays for them,” Earls said.

Contractors from McGough work to place the Bright Star Memorial in its plaza at UTPB. The installation was completed early the week of Aug. 19. (Courtesy Photos)

“I love this community that that’s not necessarily the feeling that those families have, but we still want them to know that they are thought of and loved and that we have so much empathy for them.”

When she heard about the shooting, Earls was at a Texas Tech tailgate party.

“We had a tailgate every weekend, at every game. I remember we were all sitting there and I can’t remember who brought it up that it was happening. And of course, my immediate thought was I called my parents. My sister was in town from Dallas, and I just said, are you safe? They had actually been around town, I think, to the grocery store, but they were home safe.”

She remembers that former Mayor David Turner called. He was out of town and heading back to Odessa.

“Then … things started happening. Kirk Edwards called me, who was a former chamber chair, and said, we have the foundation. We need to start raising money. So we were immediately on the phone to the company that oversaw our website to get that set up so people could start donating money. By six or seven o’clock that night, we had that in place, and we were working on that,” Earls said.

That’s what people do in Odessa, she said. They ask what they can do and how they can help.

“That Sunday evening, we had the (prayer) service at UTPB … and hundreds of people were there. It was Labor Day weekend, so a lot of people were out of town, but people came back, came home, because that happened. I know there were a group of friends who had gotten together out of town, and as soon as it happened, they all came back here. They didn’t have any immediate family involved, but they wanted to be here. They wanted to be in their community and do what they could to help,” Earls said.

A representative from Sen. John Cornyn’s office who is from Lubbock cut his vacation in Ruidoso short so he could come to Odessa and represent the Senator.

“UTPB, they just went into action, and that campus became the central point of all the media who was here” and it is now the memorial site, Earls said.

Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, said the tragedy that struck Odessa and Midland on Aug. 31, 2019, will be forever etched in our hearts and minds.

“Five years have passed since that fateful day, and while we continue to bear the weight of sorrow, we also find strength in our collective resilience and the remarkable spirit that defines West Texas,” Landgraf said in a statement.

“This senseless act of violence deeply impacted me, sharpening my focus on the need for effective crisis responses to prevent future tragedies. And in the five years since the mass shooting, we continue paying tribute to the lives that were lost by turning our grief into action.

“One of the most important developments has been the implementation of the Leilah Hernandez Act, named in honor of the youngest victim, Leilah Hernandez. I was proud to author this bill, which established the Texas Active Shooter Alert System similar to Amber Alerts. These ‘Leilah Alerts’ empower law enforcement to directly communicate urgent, life-saving information to the public in the event of another mobile active-shooter threat.

“I have also had the privilege of staying in touch with the families of the victims, especially Leilah’s mother Joanna Leyva, and Becky Griffith, the widow of Joe Griffith. The way these two women have shown bravery and strength in the face of unimaginable loss has been truly inspiring. Their unwavering dedication to turning their personal tragedies into a force for positive change was instrumental in making the Texas Active Shooter Alert System a reality.

“Moreover, I have been actively working to address the underlying issues that contribute to such acts of violence. Ground has been broken on a new 200-bed comprehensive behavioral health center, a significant milestone for our region. Initially funded with state resources that I secured in the 2021 legislative sessions, this facility will open soon and offer essential mental health services for the entire Permian Basin, marking a crucial step forward in tackling mental health challenges within our communities.

“Our collective response to that sinister shooting reminds us that even in our darkest times, there is hope when Odessans stand together. As we honor the memory of Leilah, Joe, Mary, Rodolfo, Edwin, Kameron and Raul, may the legacy of August 31st be one of resilience, unity, and the unbreakable spirit of West Texans,” Landgraf said.

If you go

What: Bright Star Memorial Dedication.
When: 8 p.m. Aug. 29.
Where: Bright Star Memorial Site on the UTPB campus off Loop 338. Park next to the sports field to access it.