Suspect in fatal shooting is dead after a standoff in Texas, officials say

EDITORS NOTE: EDS: SUBS graf that started “The identify of “ with graf starting “Police identified “ with ID of person killed in shooting.); Ishani Desai and Lucinda Holt contributed reporting.

A man who barricaded himself inside a building in Midland, Texas, is dead after a shooting that left one other person dead and 10 others injured, officials said Friday.

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the gunman as Victor Mata Villarreal, 45, of Odessa, Texas, a city about 20 miles west of the shooting. He had barricaded himself inside a shuttered veterinary clinic during an hourslong standoff that drew about 100 police officers and a SWAT team.

Villarreal was found dead inside the building around 12:30 p.m. local time. Mayor Lori Blong of Midland said that authorities, using a robot and drone footage, determined he was dead.

Police identified the person killed as Ed Scott, a Midland city employee.

Midland police said they first responded to a report of shots fired around 8 a.m. inside the building in the 4600 block of West Wall Street.

The situation “quickly escalated” into a shootout with officers, who were pinned behind their cars, said Greg Snow, the police chief. Police in the line of fire were moved out in armored vehicles.

“We moved to deny more targets to this active shooter,” Snow said.

Midland Memorial Hospital said on social media that it had received nine victims from the shooting. Four were taken to the operating room and the five others had been discharged as of Friday afternoon.

The mayor said a hospital in Odessa was also treating patients, though she did not say how many.

Villarreal had been on the run, authorities said.

The U.S. Marshals had put out a wanted flyer for his arrest after Midland police said he fled a traffic stop Wednesday and then stopped, stepped out of his vehicle and fired a rifle at an officer, who was not injured.

The police officer returned fire and Villarreal fled, Midland police said. His car was later found abandoned nearby.

The standoff Friday at the abandoned veterinary clinic, near U.S. Highway 80, happened just blocks away from the confrontation Wednesday.

Law enforcement from local, state and federal agencies surrounded the shuttered veterinary clinic in Midland, a city in West Texas that is about 57 miles from the New Mexico border.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said on social media that he had been briefed on the episode, praising a “swift response” from law enforcement.

“We are praying for the victims, their families, and the entire community,” Abbott said.

The stretch near the shooting includes several budget hotels.

Vikram Khurmi, a front desk worker at the Grand Texan Hotel & Convention Center, near the building where the man was barricaded, said that law enforcement had been blocking traffic. He said that SWAT teams had left by early afternoon and that the law enforcement presence was slowly dwindling.

Blong said there would be an “ongoing shutdown” of traffic in the area.

Snow said Highway 80 near the scene was closed and could remain closed for several days.

“For all the victims that were involved, our heart goes out to them,” Snow said. “This is not something we want in our community.”

Villarreal had a 2010 misdemeanor conviction for unlawful carrying of a weapon, according to state records. He had pleaded no contest.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Copyright 2026 The New York Times Company