By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Victor Mata Villarreal, 45, of Odessa, Texas, opened fire on officers and bystanders in Midland on the morning of Friday, June 12, 2026, killing one person and wounding ten others before barricading himself inside an abandoned veterinary clinic, where he was later found dead.
- Villarreal was already the subject of an active warrant for attempted capital murder of a peace officer after firing multiple times at a Midland police officer during a traffic stop attempt on Wednesday, June 10; that officer was not injured.
- Midland Memorial Hospital reported that four victims required surgery; five others were treated and released; the condition of the tenth victim was not immediately confirmed in official public statements.
- Midland Mayor Lori Blong said authorities used robot and drone surveillance footage to confirm Villarreal was dead inside the structure; the manner of his death had not been publicly disclosed as of publication.
- The incident occurred in a commercial corridor several miles west of downtown Midland, a city of approximately 140,000 in the heart of West Texas’s oil and gas region — the same general area as a 2019 mass shooting that killed seven people across Midland and Odessa.
MIDLAND, Texas — A man who shot and wounded a Midland police officer during a traffic stop two days prior opened fire on law enforcement and bystanders Friday morning along a commercial roadway in Midland, killing one person and injuring ten others before barricading himself inside a vacant building and later being found dead, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety and local officials.
Villarreal, 45, of Odessa, was wanted on a charge of attempted capital murder of a peace officer stemming from a June 10 incident in which he fired multiple times at a Midland officer who attempted to pull him over. The officer fired back but was uninjured. Villarreal drove away, and his vehicle was subsequently found abandoned a short distance from the scene. A warrant had been issued for his arrest in the days that followed.
On Friday morning, authorities received reports of an active shooter in the area of a commercial corridor lined with hotels and auto businesses west of downtown Midland. Dozens of law enforcement vehicles responded to the scene. Witnesses reported hearing a large number of gunshots. Andrea Mendias, who works at a body shop adjacent to the former veterinary clinic where Villarreal ultimately barricaded himself, said she heard what sounded like a small explosion before heavily armed officers arrived and deployed into the parking lot. Investigators also deployed robotic devices into the area as part of the tactical response, according to witness accounts and video from the scene.
Midland Memorial Hospital said four people underwent surgery following the attack. Five additional victims were treated and released. The condition of the tenth reported victim was not confirmed in official statements as of the time of publication. Authorities did not immediately release the identity of the person killed or additional details about the circumstances of the fatal shooting.
Villarreal was discovered dead inside the abandoned veterinary clinic a few hours after the attack began. Mayor Lori Blong confirmed that robot and drone footage was used to verify his death before officers made entry. The Texas Department of Public Safety did not publicly disclose the manner of his death. An investigation into the full circumstances of the attack is ongoing.
Midland is located approximately 300 miles west of Dallas in the Permian Basin and was near the site of a September 2019 mass shooting in which a gunman killed seven people and injured more than two dozen others while firing from a moving vehicle across Midland and Odessa.