Home Local News Community comes together for memorial unveiling

bright star memorial unveiling — The Bright Star Memorial was unveiled on the UTPB campus Thursday night. About 400 people attended the ceremony and made the pilgrimage up to the sculpture. (Ruth Campbell|Odessa American)

Community comes together for memorial unveiling

August 31, 2024

About 400 members of the community turned out Thursday for the dedication of the Bright Star Memorial on the University of Texas Permian Basin campus.

Dedicated to those who lost their lives and were injured Aug. 31, 2019, the memorial has been five years in the making and is located at Bright Star Memorial Plaza off Loop 338.

Seven people were killed and 25 injured on that dark day. 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.

Emceed by Chief of Staff/VP of Marketing and Communications Tatum Hubbard, it included remarks by UTPB President Sandra Woodley, Executive Director of Odessa Arts Randy Ham and recollections from CBS 7 Anchor Jay Hendricks.

It also included Eric Baker from UTPB playing taps on the trumpet, a closing prayer and reading of the names of the victims from Rev. Dr. Dawn Weaks of Connection Christian Church and ringing of bells by John Gillian.

Eric Baker of UTPB plays “Amazing Grace” on the trumpet at the Bright Star Memorial dedication ceremony Thursday on the UTPB campus. About 400 people turned out for the event marking the tragedy of Aug. 31, 2019. (Ruth Campbell|Odessa American)

The weather was threatening and some rain fell, but poignantly, a rainbow appeared among the dark clouds.

After the ceremony, those attending walked to the memorial site, created by sculptor Jim Sanborn, which was lit up. It will serve as a place for reflection in the years to come.

“This is probably the most important piece of public art that we will ever do. It will be the most important piece of public art I will ever have the privilege and responsibility of working on and I would give anything to not ever had to do it,” Ham said.

“But if it gives our community a little bit of comfort, and if it gives the families a little bit of comfort, then our job is done. We are so incredibly proud of this.

“We hope that it serves the purpose it’s intended and I’m so proud to have you see it tonight,” Ham added.

Although he has been involved in the project from the start, Ham said it was a different experience to see the finished product.

“I was telling Representative (Brooks) Landgraf (R-Odessa) just a few minutes ago that I’ve lived with this design for five years, so I expected to be very desensitized by the time I actually got to see it and I was not. It was incredibly overwhelming. There are not words for the emotions that I felt seeing it for the first time, and I have a feeling that’s what is going to happen for a lot of people,” Ham said Thursday night.

He added that he thinks it will be a destination for people who want to remember. Ham said he hopes it offers a place to grieve and heal.

John Gillian rings bells as the Rev. Dr. Dawn Weaks reads the names of those who lost their lives Aug. 31, 2019, during the dedication ceremony of the Bright Star Memorial Thursday night on the UTPB campus. (Ruth Campbell|Odessa American)

Brad and Brenda Grimsley of Mustang, Okla., came for the ceremony Thursday. Brad Grimsley was the first civilian shot. Before him, DPS Trooper Chuck Pryor. Grimsley was shot in the gut.

“We got a chance to see it last night and it’s beautiful. We wanted to come in again tonight to share it with the people of Odessa,” Grimsley said.

He said the memorial is beautiful and a good place for reflection.

“It’s a place for people to go and sit back and relax and reflect,” Brad Grimsley said.

Brenda Grimsley said it provided a quiet moment where you can reflect on that day and see families coming together.

“It feels good to see the families coming together. We got to be with other victims yesterday, and got to sit and talk with them,” Brenda Grimsley said.

She added that the turnout surprised her.

“I did not think that very many people would show today, and we came out today because we like being out here,” Brenda Grimsley said.

Brenda is from Pecos and her parents live there, so Brad said they drive through Odessa frequently.

Woodley said it was heartwarming to see the city come together again.

“This is who we are,” she said.

Woodley said the memorial “took my breath away to see it when it was completed.

“I knew it was going to be beautiful, but it is really just such a significant piece of art, not only for its beauty, but for the impact … and the comfort that it will give to this community all these years later and for many years to come,” Woodley said.

CBS 7 Anchor Jay Hendricks gave his recollections of the day of the mass shooting five years ago during the memorial dedication ceremony Thursday night on the UTPB campus. (Ruth Campbell|Odessa American)

Hendricks recounted his day, at times with tears in his voice. He said his day started with news that his 91-year-old mother had fallen and broken her shoulder. He and his twin brother were at Medical Center Hospital hours before the shooting began.

“We were there for quite a while, as she was going through testing. After we left, we began to get calls about things that were going on in town. … We had left to go get something to drink and came back to the hospital to find that the ER was locked down. We could not get inside to see our mother. Then I got the call that I really expected. It was time to come to work. I got a call from a DPS trooper trying to get (the) word out about a vehicle they were searching for on the interstate that had fired a gun at a DPS trooper. They also wanted us to pass this along to our newsroom and to others,” Hendricks said.

He got the expected call to come into work. Soon Hendricks was at the news desk with Matthew Alvarez where they provided coverage for more than nine hours.

“As I said, we began sharing reports about the scenes in Midland (and) Odessa, heavy law enforcement presence, ambulances and much more.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I mean, this is in our community and passing that same information on to many of you who were watching at that time,” Hendricks said.

While they were on the air, they got chased off the set twice because of “a possible presence there.

“It turned out to not be anything. But that was the type of situation we were dealing with … The big question was, why was this happening? Why was this happening to our community? Why were we joining our neighbors to the west who had had this three weeks before us?”

“Sadly, we learned there were several deaths, including people who were just driving through; one young girl shopping for a car and one simply delivering the mail. … And to our law enforcement, our first responders and others, we were all left with an image that we’ll never forget, and that includes them, too, so keep that in mind.”

For the past five years, the community has gathered at UTPB to remember those who died and those who were injured. “… Now tonight, we hope that this display on the campus will forever remind us of what happened and also help us to continue to heal. None of us will be perfectly healed, but it will be a peaceful reminder that will help us in this process. On my phone, I have hundreds of messages that I can’t look at. I will one day. One thing is for sure, we are Permian Basin strong,” Hendricks said.

The memorial was unveiled first to the families and those who were injured.

“Last night, 11 families gathered to see the memorial. They laughed and they cried and they spent almost two hours exchanging stories,” Hubbard said. “Many of them had never met each other before. Some of them are from out of town. Some of them have not been back to Odessa since that fateful day.”

Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke said he had seen the concept for the memorial, but had not yet been to the location before Thursday night.

“Particularly Jay’s words were amazing because it brings everything back, every little second back. I think the community needs this. It’s a tribute to the people that lost their lives, to the families that suffered, the people that were injured and also to the spirit and resiliency that is the Permian Basin and West Texas,” Gerke said.