Mail Carrier, 29, Fatally Shot in Texas Shootings Was on the Phone with Twin Sister During Gunfire
Mary Granados was nearing the end of her shift as a United States Postal Service Carrier on Saturday when she was shot and killed in the West Texas mass shooting.
While police have yet to identify the victims, her twin sister Rosie confirmed Mary’s death with CNN on Sunday. Rosie was on the phone with Mary, 29, at the time of the shooting, and recalled hearing Mary scream but couldn’t tell what had happened over the phone.
“It was very painful. I just wanted to help her and I couldn’t, I thought she had got bite by a dog or something. I tried calling her name and she wouldn’t answer,” Rosie told CNN.
Mary and Rosie lived together in Odessa, Texas, since moving there when they were 14 years old.
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A GoFundMe page arranged by one of Mary’s former coworkers on behalf of her family previously confirmed her death, asking for donations to help with the memorial and funeral services.
“I had the privilege to work with Mary before she started her career at USPS, she was beautiful inside and out, with a great heart and always ready to be a friend, always had a smile on her face!” the fundraising page read. “Keep her family in your prayers.”
The Odessa Police Department said the shooting rampage began at 3:25 p.m. after police initiated a traffic stop on I-20 between Midland and Odessa.
The driver opened fire on a state trooper before speeding away. He then continued to shoot at civilians before leaving his vehicle and hijacking a mail carrier truck. While police have not confirmed who was driving the mail carrier truck at the time, Mary’s GoFundMe page states that she had been “carjacked” at the time of her death.
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The suspect, described as a white male in his 30s, fired shots into shopping plazas and busy intersections. As of Sunday,at least 22 were injured and seven killed.
A 17-month-old girl was among those injured. During a press conference on Sunday, Governor Greg Abbott read a text message from the child’s mother that confirmed she was injured and getting treatment.
“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.”
Three law enforcement officials were also among those injured, Odessa Police Department Chief Michael Gerke said. All three were in stable condition as of Saturday night, according to CBS News.
The shooter was eventually killed in a shootout with police at Odessa Cinergy movie theater.
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No additional victims have been identified, though the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa confirmed that a student was also one of the seven people killed.
“We are heartbroken and outraged by the violence that struck our community and our school district today,” a statement posted on Facebook read. “We are learning that we have lost friends, family members, and one of our students. Our lives have been changed forever.”
The massacre was the state’s second mass shooting in a month. It comes just four weeks after the deadly shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart left 22 dead.