GoFundMe Zack Owens
Zack Owens was named as one of the law enforcement officers who was shot and wounded in the Odessa and Midland, Texas mass shooting.
“Midland Police Officer Zack Owens was shot in the line of duty during an active shooter situation in Odessa & Midland, TX on August 31, 2019. Officer Owens was shot multiple times in the arm and hand. As well as suffering from glass shards in his eye which is his most serious injury,” a GoFundMe page set up to help Zack with his medical costs reads.
The gunman, who has yet to be named, went on a rampage throughout the Texas communities after a traffic stop, shooting 21 people and killing 5 of them. GoFundMe pages have also been set up to help the families of Leila Hernandez, a teenage girl killed in the shooting spree, and Anderson Davis, a 17-month-old girl who was wounded but survived. Authorities have yet to officially identify the victims. They say that three law enforcement officers were wounded. Other accounts have given the officer’s name as Zac or Zach Owens, but the GoFundMe page uses the spelling Zack and online records give his name as Zackary Owens.
Here’s what you need to know:
The GoFundMe page Was Set Up by the Wife of the Officer’s Cousin, Who Says Donations Will Help the Officer
In 2014, the Midland Police Department posted a photo with Officer Owens, saying he was a new officer.
One of the other officers in the above police photo was killed in the line of duty in March 2019 (Nathan Heidelberg).
Abigail McCullough, of Seminole, Texas, set up the GoFundMe page for Officer Zack Owens. “We appreciate anything and everything. Please keep Zack in your prayers as we don’t know the outcome of the situation at this time,” she wrote.
“We would like to thank thank everyone who has been praying, and the continued prayers for everyone involved in today’s tragic events,” McCullough wrote. “Update per GoFundMe terms: I am the wife of Zack’s cousin, Justin. I was asked to set up the campaign for the family. All donations will go directly to Zack. Zack, and his brother Jake, are officers with the Midland Police Department. They risk their lives daily for the men and women of their community.”
More than $37,000 was raised to help the wounded officer in the hours after the shooting occurred alone. Tributes flowed in for Owens. “These guys like others are the first to respond and always put their lives on the line for those they do not know. I appreciate all our first responders do and they will always have my (ut)most respect. Thank y’all for always being there,” wrote one man who donated to the fund.
Two Other Victims Named Were Underage
GoFundMeLeila Hernandez
Family and friends identified two other victims of the shooting rampage as Anderson Davis, 17 months old, and Laila Hernandez, 15. Anderson survived, but Laila did not. Laila had recently celebrated her quinceañera, and her brother was wounded. She was remembered as sweet, with a big heart.
GoFundMeAnderson Davis named as toddler wounded in Odessa mass shooting.
Anderson Davis has “a hole through her bottom lip and tongue and her front teeth were knocked out,” a GoFundMe page to help her says. “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.”
READ NEXT: A Tribute to Laila Hernandez, the Teenager Killed in the Mass Shooting.