Postal worker, 15-year-old student are among the victims killed in Texas shooting
PHOENIX – A teenager who had just celebrated her quinceañera, a postal worker and a former math teacher were among the seven people killed on the streets around Odessa, Texas, when a mass shooter shattered an otherwise quiet Saturday afternoon.
At least 25 other people were injured.
The shooting began after state troopers pulled over a man for failing to use a turn signal on Interstate 20, said Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke.
The driver grabbed a rifle and shot multiple times at the troopers through the rear window, wounding one of them, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The man then sped off, firing at motorists and passers-by, and eventually hijacking a U.S. Postal Service vehicle. The 36-year-old shooter was killed after being chased by officers from neighboring cities Midland and Odessa.
Officials said the ages of the deceased ranged from 15 to 57 years old. Police haven't identified those killed during Sunday afternoon's massacre, but details surrounding the lives that were cut short have begun to emerge.
These are their stories.
Mary Granados
The U.S. Postal Service confirmed to the USA TODAY Network that one of its employees – 29-year-old Mary Granados – was among those killed.
"The Postal Service is shocked and saddened by the events that occurred yesterday in the Midland-Odessa area," a USPS statement said. "We are especially grieving the loss of our postal family member, letter carrier Mary Granados, age 29, and we continue to keep her family in our thoughts."
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USPS said its law enforcement arm, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, is working with law enforcement to assist in the investigation.
Rosie Granados, Mary's sister, told CNN that she heard Mary scream as she was shot while talking on the phone.
“It was very painful,” Granados told news outlet. “I just wanted to help her and I couldn’t. I thought she had got bit by a dog or something. I tried calling her name and she wouldn’t answer.”
Rosie and a former co-worker named Leslie Aide set up a GoFundMe page to offset funeral expenses.
Joseph Griffith
Joseph Griffith, 40, was waiting at a traffic light with his wife and two children when he was fatally shot, Carla Byrne – Griffith's oldest sister – told The Washington Post.
“This maniac pulled up next to him and shot him, took away his life, murdered my baby brother," Griffith told The Post. "Like nothing. We are so broken.”
Byrne told the news outlet that Griffith had been a math teacher who cared deeply for his students.
Becky Griffith, Joseph's wife, urged people to attend church in a Facebook post Sunday morning.
"I've been up most of the night and I'd like to ask you all to get up and go to church," Griffith wrote. "Pray for those still fighting for their lives, pray for those devastated by what they witnessed yesterday and pray for those dealing losses (sic). Get the word of God in your heart and love each other."
Rodolfo 'Rudy' Arco
Rodolfo “Rudy” Arco, 57, had left his home in Las Vegas after the anniversary of a mass shooting that took place at a music festival there in 2017, said his sister Maria Arco.
“He felt that Odessa was the place to go,” she said. “He sold everything in Vegas and moved there, in the hopes that things would be safer for him and the family.”
Rudy, who owned a trucking company in Odessa, was driving Saturday when three bullets were fired at his truck. Two went through the cab and one came right through the window and killed him instantly, Maria Arco said.
Rudy’s daughter, Julieanna, works at Music City Mall in Odessa. After being released from lockdown there Saturday, she headed home and saw her father’s truck on the side of the road, Maria Arco said. Julieanna was directed to the hospital, her aunt said.
Maria said that she, Rudy and their youngest brother, Emilio, moved with their family to the U.S. as Cuban refugees in 1969.
She described her brother as loving and joyous – the kind of person who’d always try to help other people at a party to have fun.
“He enjoyed life,” she said.
He was an entrepreneur who started the trucking business in Odessa and previously owned several taquerias in Las Vegas.
Maria Arco described the violence in this country as a “societal ill.”
“It’s not a geographical ill that is in this country,” she said. “We need to take care of whatever is ailing our families in our society. I don’t think it’s guns, I think it goes deeper than that. It’s not about one physical thing – I think it goes to the emotional.”
Above all, she said society must take a collective stand against violence.
“I just think it’s too many,” she said. “Our legislators can only do so much, but I think society is the one that needs to say, ‘OK, we’re done here.’ ”
A GoFundMe has been started for Rudy's family.
Leilah Hernandez
Leilah Herandez is the youngest among the dead.
Hernandez's grandmother, Nora Leyva, told The Post that she spent two years helping the family plan Hernandez's quinceañera, which they celebrated in May.
Leyva described to The Post how Leilah's mother was stunned as she mourned the loss of her daughter. The family remains gathered at the Odessa hospital where they await updates on the condition of Leilah's 18-year-old brother, Nathan, who was shot in the arm while his arms were around her.
The Ector County Independent School District tweeted that it was mourning the loss of one of its students but didn't name Hernandez.
"We are heartbroken and outraged by the violence that struck our community and our school district today," the school district tweeted. "We are learning that we have lost friends, family members, as well as one of our students."
The district added that it will provide additional councilors to help staff, students and families process the tragedy.
Kameron Brown
Kameron Brown survived the deserts of Afghanistan as a U.S. Army soldier before he was gunned down in the country he called home.
Standard Safety & Supply, a first-aid and fire protection service based Odessa where Brown was employed, mourned the loss of its former employee on the company Facebook page.
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“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of our team died tragically as a victim of the senseless and horrifying shootings that occurred in and around Odessa on Saturday,” the company wrote. “We ask that the privacy of our team member and his family be respected during this most difficult time.”
The company also shared a link to a GoFundMe page, which described Brown as being a resident of Brownwood, Texas, a city nearly 200 miles east of Odessa.
“The funds raised through this campaign will provide financial assistance for Kameron's family as they make funeral arrangements for their beloved family member,” the GoFundMe page reads.
The page’s organizer, Meghan Farmer, did not specify her relationship with Brown or his family.
The Coleman County Chamber of Commerce, expressed its condolences on Facebook and said Brown had attended school in Coleman, east of Midland.
Edwin Peregrino
Edwin Peregrino, 25, was visiting his parents in Odessa when he went outside to investigate the sound of gunshots and was hit, The Post reported.
His sister, Eritizi Peregrino, told the news outlet her brother was visiting after recently moving to San Antonio.
“You’re not even safe at your own house," Peregrino told The Post.
Peregrino's husband also was shot, but is recovering.
Raul Garcia
A 35-year-old from El Paso, Raul Garcia was identified by the city of Odessa on Monday afternoon as the final victim in Saturday's mass shooting.
25 others injured
More than two dozen other people were injured in the mass shooting, including a 17-month-old girl and three law enforcement officers.
One of those officers is Zack Owens, 28, with Midland's police department.
According to a GoFundMe page created for him, Owens was shot multiple times in the arm and hand. His most serious injury was glass shards in his eye.
The page's creator, Abigail McCollough, is Owens' cousin by marriage.
"What we really need is a lot of prayer. Not only for Zack, but for everyone impacted by today’s events," McCollough wrote in a Facebook post.
Owens has been an officer with the department since December 2014, according to a Police Department post on Facebook. On Sunday, the Midland Police Department posted on Facebook a message of thanks to the community, including their "cherished brother" Owens.
A local funeral home, Perches, has offered to provide free funeral services for families impacted by the shooting.
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