A gunman opened fire Friday morning in southeast Midland, killing at least one person and wounding 11 others before barricading himself inside a building on West Wall Street. Police later confirmed the suspect dead.
Nine victims went to Midland Memorial Hospital. Four were in surgery. Five were stable. Another victim was airlifted elsewhere. The chaos began around 8:20 a.m. Officers heard gunfire from inside the building. SWAT teams surrounded it. Armored units rolled in. The standoff ended hours later with the shooter dead. His name and motive are not yet public.
Mayor Lori Blong offered thoughts and prayers. “Our hearts break for the victims,” she said.
“Cecilia and I are deeply saddened by the senseless act of violence in Midland,” wrote Gov. Greg Abbott. “We are praying for the victims, their families, and the entire community.”
“Texans are heartbroken over the news of a shooting in Midland. Please join Jan and me in prayer for the victims, their families, and the city of Midland,” wrote Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in a social media post. “Please also pray for our brave first responders who put themselves in harm’s way to keep the Midland community safe.”
Then a woman from New Jersey offered something else.
Lisa McCormick, a progressive New Jersey Democrat, posted on X: “Congratulations to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Governor Greg Abbott, Sen. Ted Cruz, and the Republican gun lobby on the occasion of another Texas slaying. Your changes in gun laws are working exactly the way you knew they would.”
She added: “They have blood on their hands. They have created a state where almost anyone can carry a concealed handgun without a license, without training, without a background check. And then they act surprised when someone uses that freedom to kill. The only thing surprising is that we are still surprised.”
McCormick said the “three stooges” represent Texas, but they do not speak for the victims, whose bodies were still being counted, when the New Jersey Democrat delivered her political verdict.
The targets of her message have records. Abbott signed permitless carry into law in 2021. Paxton, now running for U.S. Senate, has fought gun restrictions for years. Cruz has voted against nearly every firearms measure proposed since the Sandy Hook massacre. The National Rifle Association has backed all three.
Texas has seen mass shooting after mass shooting. Sutherland Springs, 26 dead. El Paso, 23. Uvalde, 19 children and two teachers. In 2019, a gunman killed seven and wounded 25 in a rampage across Midland and Odessa.
None of the elected officials were on West Wall Street when the shooting started Friday.
Paxton has spent the week attacking his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, over his masculinity. Cruz appeared on Fox News to say Talarico is not man enough for the Senate. Abbott’s office issued a statement saying the governor is “deeply saddened.”
Talarico, before the shooting, responded to the attacks with a different definition of manhood: “Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves.”
Talarico represents Democrats’ best chance in years of winning a Senate race in Texas Texas, a lift to their uphill bid to reclaim the U.S. Senate majority in November.
A former middle school teacher and state lawmaker from Austin, he’s mapped out a clear plan for the coming months: pressing Paxton’s scandals to an electorate that’s grown weary of chaos, corruption, and incompetence.
Midland police have not released the shooter’s identity. The investigation is active. Road closures remain. A reunification center for families is open at the hospital.
McCormick said the dead will not go anywhere, the wounded will carry their wounds, and Texas politicians will keep offering thoughts and prayers, but they deserve congratulations. Texas politicians got want that wanted.
That is the truth of it.
Discover more from NJTODAY.NET
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.