At press conference Odessa police chief REFUSES to name the shooter -- but his ID is confirmed now.

[pnwmom]

Last edited Sun Sep 1, 2019, 04:50 PM - Edit history (3)

His name is Seth Ator.

Link to tweet

Odessa police chief refuses to publicly name the suspect for Saturday's mass shooting: "I'm not going to give him any notoriety for what he did

https://heavy.com/news/2019/09/seth-ator/

The Odessa Police Department has confirmed that the gunman in Saturday’s shooting was Seth Aaron Ator.

Ator was 36 years old. Police stated in the press conference earlier Sunday that the gunman had a home address in Ector County, and records confirmed that Ator lived in Odessa. KMID-TV reported that FBI investigators were seen executing a search warrant at Ator’s house Sunday afternoon. Records also show that Ator had a Toyota Tercel registered to his name.

SNIP

According to a statewide criminal history search on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website, Seth Ator was charged with “Criminal Trespass” on August 3, 2001, in McLennan County, Texas. It was a Class B Misdemeanor.

He was then charged with a second offense for Evading Arrest. The record shows that Ator issued a guilty plea in February of 2002 and received a sentence of 24 months on probation. The site does not provide further details as to what prompted the arrest.

[raccoon]

1. Shooter is related to big shot Republican/oil baron/is affiliated with the NRA. nt

[Retrograde]

3. My thought exactly

Odessa - isn't that next to Midland, former home of Bush the Lesser? Not that I'm implying something, but it does make me wonder.

Whoever it was, he won't be anonymous for long: aren't deaths public information in Texas?

[still_one]

4. woulldn't surprise me.

[southerncrone]

6. "Who's your daddy?"

[RandySF]

2. It should be in the police report

What are they trying to hide?

[Downtown Hound]

5. I've seen people get their mugshot printed in local papers

and online for things like underage drinking, possession of marijuana, DUI, and failure to pay fines, sometimes wearing orange jumpsuits or striped prison uniforms. But shoot up an entire community? Let's keep it under wraps.

Also, you know he's a right winger. If this was anybody else, his name would be out there already.

[DBoon]

8. you also know he is white

if he wasn't his picture would be all over

[octoberlib]

7. WSJ named him. Seth Ator, 36 years old

Seth Ator has been identified as the suspect who opened fire in a series of locations across Odessa, Texas, in a random attack that left seven people dead.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/odessa-mayor-says-shooting-death-toll-has-risen-to-seven-11567349836

[pnwmom]

13. Good. Thank you for posting this. n/t

[Peace06]

9. Shooters name

I smell trump

[PoliticAverse]

10. Good. Stop making them celebrities...

Experts Call for Mass Killers' Names to Be Kept Quiet
https://www.livescience.com/60595-stop-naming-mass-shooters-say-scientists.html

[Vinca]

12. As if that's going to stop mass killings????? Right . . .

I want to know who he is, what he's posted on social media, what kind of gun he used and whether or not it was legally purchased. For starters.

[PoliticAverse]

15. I'm sorry that you can't accept the unpleasant reality that making a criminal into a celebrity

encourages others to commit similar crimes, but there is ample evidence that that is the case.

[Vinca]

17. Do you think they would withhold his name if he was brown and named Mohammed?

He's a nice white guy and probably a district chairman for Trump, ergo "we won't make him a celebrity." Bull. In particular, I want to know about his social media history to learn if our esteemed Idiot-In-Chief is what inspired him. The only thing causing mass killings at this point is the hatred ginned up by Trump, his acolytes and the entire reich wing media machine that profits off it. Killing is now an okay thing to do if you're an angry white guy who can't imagine why he doesn't earn 7 figures as CEO of whatever business he works at. Doesn't matter he isn't interested in being educated - he's entitled because Don loves trucks (in this instance). I'm sick of it. Totally fucking sick of it. I can go out and by a gun easier than I can buy a car and that's just not right. And I've even had training and know how to shoot! Most of them can't be bothered. And responsibility? Like maybe requiring gun owners to carry insurance besides being trained? Forget about it!

[Downtown Hound]

20. We have a right to know who is attacking us

And if this turns out to be more of what we all believe it to be, then it only adds to our narrative on why we not only need gun control but why it's the right that needs to face more scrutiny and consequences for their rhetoric that leads to violence like this. Those two things would do way more to deter future shootings than keeping one name hidden from the public. At this point, any would be copycats literally have dozens if not hundreds of preexisting examples to choose from to "inspire" them. Keeping this one name hidden won't change that. Tighter restrictions on guns and greater monitoring of the right wing hate machine would.

[pnwmom]

14. No, we need to know he is and what his motivation was and who his connections were.

Without knowing his name, the public can't help with this.

[tblue37]

11. His name was Seth Ator.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Two-law-enforcement-officials-tell-AP-that-West-14406028.php

[DUgosh]

16. But he goes by the name of Bud

Bud ator

[pnwmom]

18. There's man by that name from Odessa on Facebook but he's not Seth Ator.

So I think you should delete your post.

I found this piece about Seth. He looks nothing like the guy you named.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/09/seth-ator/

Ator was 36 years old. Police stated in the press conference earlier Sunday that the gunman had a home address in Ector County, and records confirmed that Ator lived in Odessa. KMID-TV reported that FBI investigators were seen executing a search warrant at Ator’s house Sunday afternoon. Records also show that Ator had a Toyota Tercel registered to his name.

SNIP

According to a statewide criminal history search on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website, Seth Ator was charged with “Criminal Trespass” on August 3, 2001, in McLennan County, Texas. It was a Class B Misdemeanor.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

19. He inadvertently gave the shooter more attention

Because now there is a big scramble to find out who he is.

There’s a certain balance that has to be used in these situations. This isn’t it.

[Hortensis]

21. Oh, come on. Blame the "big attentioners" for their behavior.

We all own our own behavior.

While a few on DU were leaping to conspiracist fancies just as fact-free as the RW "Hillary" versions, some people were thinking of, and even confirming (!), some good reasons why TX authorities would temporarily withhold the ID. Even if not all of them are obvious.

The Koch alliance's Governor Abbott is intensely corrupt, NO doubt about that, but that's not enough reason to rush to on-line bonfires, much less not bother to take our heads with us.