A man who opened fire in Midland, Texas, on Friday, June 12, 2026, has been identified as 45-year-old Victor Mata Villarreal. He had shot at a police officer just days earlier during a chase and was being sought by authorities when he began firing at police and bystanders in Midland. The standoff ended with Villarreal dead and one person dead and 10 injured.
Law enforcement responded to an active shooting scene in Midland, Texas, on Friday, June 12, 2026. The suspect, 45-year-old Victor Mata Villarreal, had shot at a police officer just days earlier during a chase.
Authorities said Villarreal was being sought when he began firing at police and bystanders in Midland, barricading himself in an abandoned veterinary clinic. Police arrived after receiving reports of an active shooter and Villarreal started firing at officers. Several officers were pinned down behind their patrol cars and had to be rescued by an armored vehicle, but no officers were shot. Police then got everyone out of the area.
A few hours after the shooting began, authorities used robot and drone footage to confirm the shooter was dead. The city identified a man killed in the shooting as Ed Scott, a father and husband who worked in solid waste for Midland. He was also a softball umpire and volleyball official known for his kindness and jokes. Villarreal was wanted for attempted capital murder of a peace officer after firing multiple times at a Midland police officer on Wednesday.
The officer, who wasn't injured, fired back after initially trying to pull over Villarreal, who drove away. His vehicle was found empty a short distance away. Police have not said why the officer tried to stop Villarreal. Friday's standoff happened about a half-mile from where the shots were fired at the police officer Wednesday.
Police have not said why Villarreal began shooting on Friday or provided any details about the victims, including who they were, how they were shot or the conditions of those still hospitalised. Midland Memorial Hospital said four people who were brought there underwent surgery and that five had been treated and released. Villarreal had several previous encounters with law enforcement, including some arrests, records show.
He was convicted on a 2009 charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm in San Angelo, according to Texas criminal history records. He was charged in 2003 and 2004 for unlawfully carrying a weapon and unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon, but both cases appear to have been dismissed as part of a plea. He also pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge in 2008 that was later dismissed.
As police responded to Friday's shooting, dozens of squad cars and law enforcement vehicles descended along what's normally a busy roadway lined with hotels and auto businesses a few miles west of Midland's downtown. Andrea Mendias said she heard what sounded like a small explosion at the closed veterinary clinic next to the auto body shop where she works and saw a number of heavily armed police officers rush into the parking lot. Some appeared to go inside the building.
Video from Mendias showed officers pouring out of the back of an armored police vehicle and police deploying robots into the area. The city with about 140,000 residents sits in the heart of the state's oil and gas region and was near the site of a deadly shooting rampage in 2019.
In that shooting, a gunman who had been fired from his oil services job killed seven people and wounded two dozen others while firing at random as he drove around the Odessa and Midland areas. The two cities are more than 300 miles west of Dallas
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