Midland gunman who killed 1, injured 10 identified by Texas investigators
Video shows officers returning fire during Midland active shooting
Video from Brian Massingill via Storyful shows officers firing back at a building in Midland, Texas, after shots were fired at them.
MIDLAND, Texas - A gunman who killed one person and injured 10 others in Midland on Friday morning before being found dead himself has been identified.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said the Texas Rangers, the state’s chief investigative agency, have taken over the investigation of the mass shooting in the 4600 block of West Wall Street.
Investigators said law enforcement officers were called to the scene about 8 a.m. after reports of an active shooter. When they arrived, 45-year-old Victor Mata Villarreal opened fire on them and bystanders before barricading himself inside an abandoned building.
Victor Mata Villarreal (Texas DPS / FOX Local)
Video of the scene showed officers, some armed with long guns, sheltering behind cruisers and power poles as multiple shots rang out. Another video from inside a building where people were sheltering showed a SWAT vehicle with a battering ram attached at the scene.
Villarreal was found dead inside the building about 12:30 p.m.
Midland Mayor Lori Blong said officers used a robot and a drone to confirm the suspect was dead.
A spokesperson for Midland Memorial Hospital said they received nine victims. Four of them were operated on, and all but one of them are out of surgery. Five others were discharged.
Blong said a hospital in Odessa was also treating a victim.
Midland faces a lot of ‘sorrow,’ mayor says
Blong encouraged people to pray for the victims of Friday’s violence, saying that a chapel at Midland Memorial Hospital was being used to provide services to those affected.
"There’s a lot more strain and stress and sorrow for our community on the other side of this," Blong said during a news conference.
Midland officials provide update on shooting that left 1 dead, 10 injured
Midland Mayor Lori Blong provides an update on a mass shooting that left at least one person dead Friday.
What we know about the Midland suspect
According to investigators, Villarreal had been on the run since Wednesday night after firing shots a Midland police officer during a traffic stop.
Midland police said Villarreal prompted a chase when officers tried to stop his vehicle. Once stopped, he jumped out of the vehicle with a rifle and several rounds at an officer. The officer returned fire and Villarreal jumped back in his vehicle and fled.
Victims not yet identified
Authorities have not yet released the identity of the person who was killed or any of the victims who survived the mass shooting.
Some imagery in this story came from KMID/KPEJ and KOSA.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the City of Midland, KMID/KPEJ and KOSA.