Johnson Space Center shooting
Johnson Space Center shooting | |
---|---|
Hostage taking, murder | |
Weapons | .38 or .357-caliber revolver |
Deaths | 2 (including the perpetrator) |
Injured | 0 |
Perpetrator | William A. Philips |
The Johnson Space Center shooting was an incident of
Timeline of events
The situation began at 1:00 p.m. (
Phillips then took Fran Crenshaw, who happened to be in the area, hostage and bound her to a chair with duct tape. Phillips barricaded himself and Crenshaw inside the second floor of Building 44 for the next three hours.[1] During this, Crenshaw attempted to calm Phillips, with whom she was reported to have had a positive relationship. Later, Crenshaw was able to get herself out of the tape and alert authorities about what was happening. Meanwhile, SWAT teams surrounded the building.[1] Building 44 as well as four other nearby buildings were evacuated and NASA employees in other buildings were ordered to remain inside their buildings, but were later told they were free to go at the end of the workday.[5] A nearby school, Space Center Intermediate School, was temporarily placed on lockdown.
The incident ended at 5:00 p.m. as the SWAT teams attempted to communicate with Phillips when the gunman committed suicide with a single shot to the head.[1] Crenshaw was taken to St. John Hospital by ambulance and then released for questioning by the Houston Police Department. She was physically unharmed and walked out of the hospital on her own.[3]
Victims
A person identified as David Beverly was shot four times to the chest and killed. He was a 62-year-old electrical parts specialist employed by NASA.[2] Fran Crenshaw, a contract worker with MRI Technologies, was held hostage by Phillips. During the incident she attempted to calm Phillips, and eventually escaped her bonds.
The perpetrator
The gunman was identified as 60-year-old William A. Phillips,
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Monica Rhor. "Gunman kills hostage, self at NASA center". NBC News. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Rasha Madkour (April 21, 2007). "NASA shooting suspect feared being fired, police say". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
- ^ a b Michelle Homer. "JSC gunman was NASA engineer". KHOU-TV. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ Nasa killer 'had bad job review' BBC News
- ^ a b c "Gunman Kills Hostage, Himself at Johnson Space Center in Houston". FOXNews.com. April 21, 2007.
- ^ MTB News - Blogging the weird, odd, offbeat news, views, art and best videos on the web Archived December 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine