Records: West Texas Gunman had 'Suicidal Tendencies' In 2001
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Arrest reports say the gunman who killed seven people in West Texas over Labor Day weekend was arrested in 2001 for trying to break into a woman's bedroom after threatening to kill her brother. Hospital staff later determined Seth Ator had "suicidal tendencies."
Years before he went on the killing spree, Ator lived and graduated from high school in the Waco suburb of Lorena, where the attempted break-in occurred.
McLennan County Sheriff's Office records show Ator jumped from a second-floor window to avoid authorities the day after his attempted break-in. The Associated Press obtained the reports through a public records request.
Ator eventually pleaded guilty to evading arrest and criminal trespass.
It is unclear whether the 2001 events have any bearing on the mass shooting that stretched 10 miles from Midland to Odessa. It is also unknown whether his hospitalization affected a federal background check that a law enforcement official said blocked Ator from buying a gun in 2014 because of a "mental health issue."
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
