Shooting Suspect Arrested in West Odessa

Staff Report
NewsWest 9

WEST ODESSA – The man who allegedly shot three people, including two Ector County deputies, was arrested and taken into custody after a lengthy and tense standoff.

The suspect, identified as Victor White by officials, was arrested at his property in far West Odessa around 2:30 Saturday afternoon.

The standoff was sparked after White allegedly shot two deputies and a civilian Friday afternoon around 4:00.

White then took the deputy's radio and threatened law enforcement officials including Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson. At one time, he was firing on police helicopters that were circling West Odessa.

As the standoff at White's property on West University dragged on, more than 100 law enforcement officers from across West Texas descended on the area. Officers from Lubbock and Austin also responded.

Around 1:30 Saturday afternoon White apparently set his home on fire. Prior to that, officers had been exchanging gun fire with him.

This all started just after 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon at Knox and University. The Associated Press reports that Luke Bedrick went to White's property to repossess a trailer. Deputy Ricky Tijerina was called to the scene and that's when White opened fire. Bedrick was hit once and Tijerina was struck twice.

Sgt. Steve McNeil was also shot as he responded to the scene. All three were taken to Medical Center Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Bedrick was released and the two deputies are in stable condition at this time.

Residents in the area were evacuated and as of Saturday afternoon, officials were still combing White's property to make sure no one else was involved in the standoff.

The area was expected to remain closed off to traffic and residents for a couple more hours.

The Texas Rangers and DPS are now in charge of the investigation. White did sustain some burns apparently when he set his home on fire.

NewsWest9 will have the very latest update on NewsWest9 at Six.

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