The neighbor of the west Texas shooter said he threatened her with a large rifle last month, but claims police never responded.
Veronica Alonzo told CNN that the 36-year-old gunman came up to her house with the weapon and yelled at her after she had left trash in a nearby dumpster. She also explained how he would routinely fire off shots from a structure on top of his house into his yard at night, often retrieving dead animals after.
Alonzo reported the incident to police, but claimed they never responded because the address of the property doesn’t register in on GPS and is difficult to locate.
Former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wacrow called the shooter’s actions toward Alonzo “behavioral red flags” and wondered why police reportedly failed to act during a CNN interview on Sunday.
“The fact that a neighbor called the police on this one incident, and they didn’t act, that has to be fully investigated,” he said. “That’s what we always talk about here at this desk in the aftermath of these crisis situations when we look back at who these people are, and we say, ‘Look, we clearly see there was a leading indicator of the propensity for violence.'”
He added, “We need to stop that along that behavioral continuum before someone transcends into an act of mass shooting and it creates these horrific events.”
Investigators were seen placing dozens of small red flags in various locations outside of the gunman’s home on Sunday, including around locations his neighbor claims he shot at.
According to Alonzo, the shooter’s property did not have heat or air conditioning, and he would frequently sit in his car with the heat on during cold weather.
On Saturday, the gunman, identified as Seth Ator, opened fire in and around the cities of Odessa and Midland, Texas. Seven people were killed and at least 19 others injured during the rampage. He was eventually shot and killed by police. Law enforcement officers are still investigating the shooting and have not yet determined a motive.
