ODESSA, Texas — It has been nine days since the mass shooting in Odessa and Midland.
In that time, the community has come together. But police say there has been an increase in shooting threats since the mass shooting.
Two of those threats have led to arrests.
“It’s been very busy here, you know we take every single one of them very serious,” OPD Corporal Steve LeSueur said.
According to LeSueur, on August 31, the deadly mass shooting was not the only shooting threat police responded to.
“On that same day as the mass shooting we responded to several calls involving subjects with guns," he said.
LeSueur noted that the evening of the shooting, Music City Mall was evacuated after reports of another active shooter in the mall.
"It turned out to be false, but you just never know," LeSueur said. "You have to assume the worst in every single situation.”
Now Odessa police are calling on the public for help.
"If it doesn’t seem right then it probably isn’t," LeSueur said. "I mean a lot of these threats are made online and law-enforcement doesn’t always know about it."
He said it is always better to be safe than sorry.
LeSueur says to report any threat or suspicious person to the police right away.
“A lot of these serious instances could’ve been prevented had people let us know,” he said.
Police say citizens should not be afraid, just prepared.
“We're not trying to create fear or cause panic, we’re just trying to remind people to be aware of their surroundings and report all suspicious activity,” LeSueur said.
Odessa police would not say how many threats they have responded to since the shooting. Midland police says they have responded to two from aguust 31 to September 9.
To report any suspicious behavior call the numbers below.
Odessa Police Non-Emergency: 432-335-4961
Midland Police Non-Emergency: 432-685-7110