ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) -As we reflect back on the fourth anniversary of the Mobile mass shooting in 2019, CBS7′s Jay Hendricks had the chance to visit with Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke.
August 31st, 2019; when a lone shooter did something no one in West Texas believed would ever happen...but did.
A cross, delivered by carpenter Greg Zanis, is erected as a memorial to the victims of an Aug. 31 mass shooting in Odessa. Zanis is famous for building the crosses and delivering them to sites of mass shootings across the United States.(Source: Shane Battis, KOSA-TV)
28 days after a mass shooting in El Paso, Midland and Odessa were added to the list.
Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke remembers that day and where he was and the challenges they faced,
The response has changed thanks to new technology.
License plate readers and cameras in various places throughout the city are just a few of the changes.
Gerke added:
We spoke with him last week on a day where a threat was called to a local school.
The response was massive.
Police respond to threat at Permian High School(CBS7)
Gerke said:
And that partnership is not just in Odessa, as we saw on August 31st, it also came from Midland and beyond beyond.
And as the department changes, Chief Gerke says they will be taught about what happened and the importance of looking back and remembering.
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