Arrest made in shootings; five confirmed, two people injured (+MUG)

After a long night filled with sirens, gunfire and two gunshot victims, Odessa police confirmed one person was arrested in connection with the shootings.

Lt. Davey Tarbet with OPD said 21-year-old Justin Brian Mireles, 1417 S. Sam Houston Ave., was arrested in connection with both gunshot victims. Mireles was listed in the Ector County Detention Center on Sunday afternoon and charged with deadly conduct, discharging of a firearm. As of Sunday afternoon, Mireles was awaiting bond.

So far, there are five confirmed shootings: one at 6:45 p.m. on 318 McKnight Drive, one at 6:59 p.m. at the Headlines Barber Shop at 2501 N. Dixie Blvd., one at 7:52 p.m. at 1325 S. Washington Ave., one at 8:30 p.m. at 1401 E. Everglade Ave. and at 8:19 p.m. in 1816 N. Lincoln Ave. The remaining incidents are “shots fired” calls, some of which turned out to be nothing and some of which are still unclear.

Map of confirmed shootings

Tarbet said at one point, he had 24 officers out on duty along with detectives and members of the Ector County Independent School District Police Department. Tarbet also said members of the Texas Department of Public Safety were also assisting in patrolling the streets, and a DPS helicopter could be seen flying over the city for much of the early morning, utilizing its spotlight.

“We were out in full force as much as we could,” Tarbet said.

Some in particular could appreciate police efforts through the night.
While two representatives from the Odessa Police Department and Crime Scene Unit took pictures of her house and continued their investigation, Linda Zepeda stood on the lawn with her Chihuahua, Chloe, Sunday afternoon at 1325 S. Washington Ave.

A bandage on Zepeda’s upper left arm is the most noticeable reminder of the shooting that sent her to the hospital Saturday night.

The injury was minor, and after being discharged from the hospital the same night, Zepeda said she was able to return home the next day.

After her son was attacked earlier Saturday evening, Zepeda said she sat down to call OPD and report the incident.

She had moved to the front of the house afterward and was sitting on the sofa when the shooting started.

“I just got scared,” Zepeda said.

The second bullet hit her arm, and Zepeda said she threw herself onto the ground.

When the gunfire stopped she went to get help.

“I called back to the OPD,” Zepeda said, adding that they responded quickly and an ambulance took her to the hospital.

Police informed Zepeda that Mireles was arrested in connection with the shooting, which is why she felt safe enough to return home.

OPD Sgt. Darryl Smith said police were continuing to investigate the incidents and determine how they were related to each other, and whether they were gang-related.

One person was in the Headlines Barbershop, 2501 N. Dixie Blvd., when four shots came through the window, but he was unharmed.

Owner Pete McGarity said the man was cleaning up and getting ready to close the shop when the shots came in.

“He was shedding tears,” McGarity said. The staff member is OK and in good spirits, he said.

McGarity said he’s appalled someone would shoot in his barber shop and was also upset that people are implying his shop does more than just haircuts.

“When you have a business and it’s rolling all day long, you have a majority of blacks and Mexicans, people here, they speculate,” he said. “Like they’ve got more going on than a barber shop.”

But McGarity said he’s been dealing with such accusations since he opened in Odessa in 1998, and business is going to continue as usual.

He stressed that the business is not affiliated with any illegal activity and has a family environment.

“The person who did this, I see him No. 1 as a coward,” McGarity said. “You have a problem with somebody, you address them face-to-face.”

He said he wasn’t sure whether the shooting was targeted or a random occurrence.

Neighbors in the 300 block of McKnight Drive identified the man who was transported with a gunshot from 318 McKnight Drive Saturday evening as Adam Moreno and said he was released from the hospital. Witnesses had identified Moreno’s injuries Saturday evening as gunshot wounds to the chest.

One of the neighbors, who declined to give her name, said she had not seen Moreno or his wife at the house Sunday, but did say she saw his daughters at the house when the Odessa Crime Unit was at the home to follow-up on their investigation.

At 1816 N. Lincoln Ave., Arturo Carrasco and his wife Lupe had a family scare when they came back to find their cars and home riddled with bullets.

Arturo Carrasco said his son, daughter-in-law and grandson were in the house when the shooting happened, but moved upstairs after eating and only heard the shots come into the house at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

About 10 shots were fired at the home, he said, with two of them even making it inside the house.

“At first I thought they might have made the wrong house,” Arturo Carrasco said.

But after speaking with officers later on in the night, he said police believe the same people or group of people could have been behind the shootings.

“It’s going to be scary going into the kitchen at night,” Lupe said. “It sounds like a gang deal.”

There were no injuries, and no one was home at the time of the fifth confirmed shooting at 1401 E. Everglade Ave.

Resident John Tavarez, 28, said in a phone interview that when his family arrived back home, they weren’t aware their property had been shot until police arrived.

A Ford F-150 sitting outside the home showed signed of being shot twice, once in the rear-driver’s side tire and another in the front driver’s side paneling. A neighbor, who declined to give her name, said police found nine shell casings between the truck and a residence two houses down.

“I’ve been here about five years, and nothing like this has happened,” Tavarez said.

@OdessaAmerican