The shooting in Midland and Odessa, Texas, took the life of Mary Granados, a postal worker who has taken center stage in the story. Granados was killed by gunman Seth A. Ator, who then hijacked her mail truck and continued his killing spree. Now, the nation is taking a closer look at the latest victim of a tragic mass shooting.
Granados was one of seven people killed in West Texas on Saturday. The 29-year-old was delivering mail for the United States Postal Service on Saturday afternoon when Ator attacked her in Odessa. Home security footage published by The Daily Mail shows her smiling to herself as she approached a mailbox when suddenly Ator came at her with his AR-15-style assault rifle.
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Granados was on the phone with her twin sister Rosie at the time of the attack. Rosie spoke to CNN about the terrifying experience of listening to her sister facing a loaded gun and being unable to help her.
“It was very painful. I just wanted to help her and I couldn’t,” she said. “I thought she had got [bitten] by a dog or something. I tried calling her name and she wouldn’t answer.”
Rosie said that the phone call cut out, and she was left in terror. She knew her sister’s route, so she rushed to find her, hoping to catch her at one of her usual deliveries. She found Mary 15 minutes later, her body surrounded by police.
“She was laying on the floor when I got there. She was already gone,” Rosie said. “I just wanted to run to her and hug her, kiss her.”
Rosie said that the Granados family is taking the loss very hard, and that it happened to one of the sweetest, most positive people she knew.
“We are all broken. We are all suffering,” she said. “She was very friendly and was always smiling.”
The Granados sisters reportedly immigrated to the U.S. when they were 14 years old. They came from Juarez, Mexico to Odessa, and never left. Rosie said that her twin had been working for the USPS for about a year before her passing.
Many others spoke up about Granados’ infectious positivity as well. One co-worker even set up a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise money to help the family. So far, the crowdfunding campaign has raised over $38,900, with countless testimonials about Granados’ characer.
“I had the privilege to work with Mary before she started her career at USPS, she was beautiful inside and out, with a great heart and always ready to be a friend, always had a smile on her face!” wrote the founder of the campaign.
