A live streaming tribute ceremony to the victims of a tragic shooting spree two years ago will be hosted on the Family Resiliency Center of the Permian Basin’s Facebook page from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Aug. 31.
The event, which the public is invited to tune-into, will feature speeches from several community members who will also participate virtually, Family Resiliency Center Coordinator Chandra Coleman said.
“We want the community to have a way to participate and experience hope and healing,” Coleman said.
Hope and healing is the theme of this year’s event. Seven were killed and 25 others wounded during the mass shooting spree by gunman Seth Ator. Ator drove around Midland and Odessa randomly shooting until he was shot to death by law enforcement in a field near Odessa’s Cinergy Theater.
The Center was planning to host an in-person, private ceremony for families who lost loved ones in the shooting, but those plans were changed due to concerns over the recent spike in COVID cases, Coleman said.
A private, virtual ceremony will be held for just the family of the shooting victims prior to the public event on Facebook, Coleman said.
A similar public event planned at UTPB on Aug. 31 by several local organizations was cancelled on Monday due to COVID concerns, said Odessa Art Council Executive Director Randy Ham, who was spearheading that event.
Both planned events have been incorporated into the Family Resiliency Center tribute.
The Center’s live stream event will feature several speakers, including Coleman, Ham, Odessa Mayor Javier Joven, former Mayor Pro Tem Peggy Dean, Police Chief Michael Gerke and local religious leaders.
A video tribute created by the city’s communications department to honor the victims, will make its premiere at the conclusion of the ceremony, Coleman said.
Coleman said it’s important to honor and pay tribute to those whose lives were lost in the shooting, because it’s part of the healing process.
“We don’t want to relive the past,” Coleman said. “We want to remember and honor them and focus on the future.”
The Odessa Art Council, City of Odessa and UTPB are currently collaborating on a proposed memorial that would pay tribute to victims of the 2019 mass shooting.
The proposed tribute, a 10-foot circular art piece will be placed at the corner of 42nd and Parkway streets when completed in December 2023, Ham has said.
The site at 42nd and Parkway, which is owned by the University of Texas Basin, is projected to cost about $300,000, Ham said.
The Family Resiliency Center of the Permian Basin was created through partnerships in Odessa and Midland to serve as a long-term resource for healing following the tragedy of Aug. 31, 2019.
For more information about the center’s services call 432-848-6944.
