Texas shooter kills 1, wounds 10 before police standoff ends

A Midland city employee was killed and 10 people were wounded when gunfire erupted on West Wall Street and police boxed in the suspect inside an abandoned veterinary clinic. By the time the scene was cleared, investigators had confirmed that Victor Mata Villarreal was dead and that the city was confronting a fast-moving attack that had begun with an earlier shooting at an officer.

Officers were called to the 4600 block of West Wall Street around 8 a.m. after reports of an active shooter. When they arrived, Villarreal opened fire on officers and bystanders before barricading himself inside the building. Video from the scene showed officers crouched behind cruisers and power poles as shots rang out, and another clip showed a SWAT vehicle with a battering ram on site. Authorities later used a robot and drone to confirm that Villarreal was dead inside the building about 12:30 p.m. No law enforcement officers were injured.

The city later identified the person killed as Ed Scott, a Midland city employee. Officials also corrected the victim count as the response unfolded, saying there were 10 victims total, not 11, consisting of Scott and nine people transported to Midland Memorial Hospital. The hospital said it received nine victims, and by early afternoon five had been discharged while four required surgery, with three out of the operating room and one still in surgery. The city’s mayor, Lori Blong, said Midland was dealing with “a lot more strain and stress and sorrow” in the aftermath.

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified Villarreal, 45, as being from Odessa, and the Texas Rangers and DPS took over the investigation. Police said he had been on the run since Wednesday night after firing shots at an officer during a traffic stop, a case that was being investigated as attempted capital murder of a peace officer. The Texas Tribune reported that Villarreal had been charged in 2003 on the same offense and in 2004 for unlawfully possessing a prohibited weapon, though both cases were dismissed. For Midland, the episode showed how a single traffic-stop confrontation can escalate into a citywide public-safety emergency in a matter of hours, leaving hospitals, patrol officers and state investigators to manage the aftermath.