Anderson Davis, the toddler wounded in the Odessa, Texas mass shooting, has “a hole through her bottom lip and tongue and her front teeth were knocked out,” according to a GoFundme page set up to help the 17-month-old.
The page named Anderson as the injured child and quotes her mother. You can donate here. More than $97,000 had been raised to help the child in the immediate hours after the August 31, 2019 mass shooting. Authorities in Odessa and Midland say that the gunman – now named as Seth Ator – shot 24 people, killing 7 of them, in a random shooting rampage that started with a traffic stop and ended in a movie theater parking lot.
“Anderson is an absolutely amazing little girl. So bubbly, so kind hearted, and a selfish man today almost took all of that away from her and her family,” Haylee Wilkerson, who created the GoFundMe page and knows the family, told Heavy in an interview. “God was watching over her today along with the other shooting victims. Some of the victims did pass in this terrible situation, but after every storm comes a rainbow. We as a community will one day recover.”
Haylee gave Heavy this positive update on Sept. 1: “She’s out of surgery and doing well and they may let her go home today.”
The gunman is now deceased. Three officers were also injured in the carnage. The young victim – Anderson Davis – is moving hearts across the nation.
The governor read out loud a text from Anderson’s mother at a press conference.
“Thank you all for praying. This is all of our worst nightmare. But thank God she’s alive and relatively well. Toddlers are funny because they can get shot but still want to run around and play,” he read. “She says that we are thanking God for that. Her mouth is pretty bad but can heal and be fixed. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like her jaw was hit. Just lip, teeth and tongue. She’s having surgery tomorrow to remove the shrapnel from her chest…we are thanking God for healing her and appreciate continued prayers.”
“I want her family to know they can be assured of those prayers,” said the Texas governor.
Here’s what you need to know:
Anderson Davis Was Struck by a Bullet Fragment & a Family Friend Told Heavy the Child Is ‘Cheerful’ & ‘Happy All the Time’
GettyOne of the scenes in the Odessa shooting.
The child “was hit with a bullet fragment from the Odessa, Tx shooting,” says the GoFundMe page.
In the interview with Heavy, Wilkerson described Anderson as a child with a “precious laugh.”
“She has the most precious laugh, the most lovable personality,” Wilkerson said. “She is so cheerful and happy all the time. She is never upset or mad. She loves her twin brother more than anything. Her heart is so big.” She said the family was “in front of Twin Peaks on 42nd and John Ben Shepperd parkway. They were driving,” when the child was wounded.
The page includes this account attributed to Anderson’s mom:
We are on a very long drive to Lubbock. Anderson is a live and that is a prayer answered bigger than I’ve ever had to pray. Her vitals are good. She is being flown to Lubbock while we drive. Not getting to fly with her is beyond painful. Anderson is 17 months old, has shrapnel in her right chest, which thank God is superficial. She has a hole through her bottom lip and tongue and her front teeth were knocked out. She is alive. When others today are not alive. I ask you to continue praying for our hearts as we experience this, pray for complete healing of Anderson, pray for every other family in our same situation, or worse, today and pray for the shooters. Pray that whatever is causing them to do this will be defeated by God and they will stop shooting. The last we heard there are three shooters, over 20 shot, 4 or more dead.
It turned out that, although authorities initially thought there were two shooters, there was a single gunman. The fact the shooter switched vehicles and was causing random chaos and carnage in different locations added to the initial confusion.
Well-wishers filled the GoFundMe page with other comments. “I’m so sorry about what happened to Anderson. My thoughts and prayers for her speedy recovery!” wrote one person who donated. “This precious little girl is just starting her life and to be touched by this senseless act of violence. Prayers for her full recovery,” wrote another. “I wish I could give you so much more. I hope your beautiful baby is okay.. I’m praying so hard,” said another well-wisher.
Some people wrote that they know the family. “I’ve known this family for a long time and can’t imagine what they are going through! I have a little one just a little older than Anderson; I just can’t imagine!! Praying for y’all!!” wrote one woman.
READ NEXT: More on the Odessa Mass Shooting.