Photo: GoFundMe
A 17-month-old girl was among those injured on Saturday in amass shooting in Texasthat killed seven people.
During a press conference on Sunday, Governor Greg Abbott read a text message from the child’s mother. “Thank you all for praying. This is all of our worst nightmare, but thank God she’s alive and relatively well,” Abbott read. “Toddlers are funny because they can get shot but still want to run around and play. Her mouth is pretty bad but will heal and can be fixed. Thankfully it doesn’t seem like her jaw was hit, just lip, teeth and tongue. She is having surgery tomorrow to remove the shrapnel from her chest.”
In a post on the fundraising page, the girl’s mother gave an update on Anderson’s health.
“Anderson is alive and that is a prayer answered bigger than I’ve ever had to pray,” she said. “Her vitals are good … Anderson is 17 months old, has shrapnel in her right chest, which thank God is superficial.”
Anderson’s mother confirmed that her daughter’s front teeth were knocked out and has a hole through her bottom lip and tongue.
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Anderson was airlifted to University Medical Center in Lubbock, where she remains in satisfactory condition, hospital officials toldCNN.
“She was conscious, but she was just covered in blood,” he said. “It was horrible to see something like that.”
The Odessa Police Departmentsaidthe rampage began at 3:25 p.m. after police initiated a traffic stop on I-20 between Midland and Odessa.
Tim Fischer/Midland Daily News via AP
The driver opened fire on a state trooper before speeding away, and continued to shoot at civilians before ditching his car and hijacking a mail carrier truck.
The suspect, a white male in his 30s, fired shots into shopping plazas and busy intersections, injuring at least 21 people and killing seven. He was eventually killed in a shootout with police at the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa, bringing an end to the state’s second mass shooting in a month.
Three law enforcement officials were among those injured, Odessa Police Department Chief Michael Gerke said. All three were in stable condition as of Saturday night, according toCBS News.
No additional victims have been identified, though the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa confirmed that a student was one of the seven people killed.
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source: people.com
