ODESSA, Texas — Five years ago, seven people lost their lives in a Midland-Odessa mass shooting.
On Thursday night, the City of Odessa honored and paid remembrance to those lives lost with the unveiling of the Bright Star Memorial.
The ceremony saw a wide range of speakers and guests.
"Over 100 artists from across the country applied for this commission, and once we saw Jim Sanborn's design, it's an 11 foot tall bronze cylinder with the names of the victims water jetted into the cylinder, and also quotes from the families and from the survivors about that day and about the perseverance of the Permian Basin," said Randy Ham, executive director of Odessa Arts.
It was first revealed to the victims of the tragedy, each of whom gave their approval of the monument.
"Beautiful, beautiful. It's a good reflection this place for people to go and sit back and relax and reflect," said Bradley Grimsley, a victim to the tragedy.
"It's kind of a chilling a quiet moment, you can reflect on it that day and see everything that was going on," said Brenda Grimsley, another victim to the tragedy.
The most resounding part of the day wasn't just seeing the memorial in all of its glory, but seeing all of Odessa come together.
"I'm not surprised at all that this community comes together for this event," said Sandra Woodley, president of UTPB. "I mean the resiliency and the comfort that we give each other through these five years it's really heartwarming to see the city come together. And again, this is who we are in Odessa, we love it so much."
Lit with one light, one bright star, for one Odessa.