CNN Breaking: Gunman opened fire at NASA building, police say

[pez]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/nasa.gunfire.reut/index.html

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/04/20/nasa.gunfire/newt1.1550.johnson.kprc.jpg

NASA evacuated a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after a person with a gun was seen and a shot was fired, a NASA spokeswoman said Friday. Brandi Dean said it was not yet known if anyone was hurt. NASA spokesperson James Hartfield told CNN there were gunshots heard in the building. He added NASA security rules do not allow weapons on the property.

Click link for more...

[Johnny Punani]

All of the nuts are coming out of the woodwork now.

[Flycoach]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/nasa.gunfire.reut/index.html

NASA evacuated a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after a person with a gun was seen and a shot was fired, a NASA spokeswoman said Friday. NASA Spokeswoman Brandi Dean said it was not yet known if anyone was hurt. Local police were on the scene, she said.

Click link for more...

Crazy world we live in...

[Rumrunner6900]

All of the nuts are coming out of the woodwork now.

Yup...I'm worried it will get worse over the weekend too. :(

[HEavyJumbo85]

yeah what the heck, and apparently some school got evacuated in colorado a little while ago because something "went off." What the hell is going on.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Ugh :doh:

Nothing surprises me anymore...hate to say it...

[Patrick86L]

I'm beginning to wonder if this stuff happens everyday but we dont hear about every single one unless its after a huge one...

[Johnny Punani]

I'm beginning to wonder if this stuff happens everyday but we dont hear about every single one unless its after a huge one...

No. It means the world is full of crazy people and horrific events like the VT shootings make them want their 15 min of fame.

[pez]

I'm beginning to wonder if this stuff happens everyday but we dont hear about every single one unless its after a huge one...

I don't think a gunman at NASA will be classified as small...

[Larry]

All of the nuts are coming out of the woodwork now.

It's Bush's fault.

Either that, or it's Global Warming. Which is Bush's fault.

(Unless it's Brunell's.)

[pez]

supposedly the entire local area including schools are on lockdown...

[twa]

While it is a little rare at NASA,shootings are a everyday thing in this area.

I am about 7 miles from NASA ;)

Added video

http://video.ap.org/v/en-ap/fv/fv.htm??g=c6d7bb7d-4533-40a3-b24c-bf49976c2a1f&f=txhou&fg=rss

[Blondie]

supposedly the entire local area including schools are on lockdown...


Not now. School was released around 4 your time.

[swisha]

It's Bush's fault.

Either that, or it's Global Warming. Which is Bush's fault.

(Unless it's Brunell's.)

You're not funny.

[Blondie]

Gunman, hostage dead at NASA building, police say

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- A gunman who took two hostages Friday at NASA's Johnson Space Center has apparently killed himself and one hostage, police said.

Another hostage has been taken to the hospital, said Houston Police Capt. Dwayne Ready.

The gunman forced the evacuation of the building and put the entire center on alert around 1:40 p.m. ET.

Earlier a witness in Building 44 on the campus reported two shots fired, said Ready, who described the suspect as a white man with blond hair, about 5 feet 9 inches and 50 to 60 years old. He had a handgun, said Ready.

Ready said he had barricaded himself in a room. The apparent suicide happened on the second floor of Building 44, he added.

The call for help came in to the Houston Police at 1:40 p.m. (2:40 p.m. ET) but it's unclear who made that call. (Watch employees being evacuated after gunfire is heard )

There is "extremely tight security" at Johnson Space Center, NASA spokesman James Hartfield said.

A NASA spokesperson told CNN that all employees have been told to go home for the day.

Space Center Intermediate School, less than a mile south of Building 44, was locked down, said Karen Permetti, spokeswoman for Clear Creek Independent School District. The lockdown was lifted at about 4 p.m. (5 p.m. ET).

The school has about 1,200 students, according to the school district.

As standard procedure, Mission Control's doors were locked, The Associated Press reported.

[Park City Skins]

Sigh. Kills one innocent person and wounds another. 2 innocents before he kills himself. Sad. Very sad.

[twa]

Gunman William Phillips Jr., 60, is believed to have first fired shots at Johnson Space Center about 1:40 p.m. Friday. Police spokesman Capt. Dwayne Ready said it is believed this is the when the victim was killed.

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The incident concludes a difficult week around the country. On Monday, a gunman killed 32 classmates and himself at Virginia Tech; the April 19 anniversaries of the Oklahoma City bombing and the deadly raid on the Branch Davidian Compound were held; and the April 20 anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

I dont know what any of the relationships were at this time, Ready said after the incident, referring to the gunman and victims at the NASA site to the south of Pasadena.

Police entered the building shortly before 5 p.m. after about three hours on the scene. A single gunshot spurred them to enter the building. Upon entering, they found the gunman with a single gunshot wound to the head, which they believe to be self-inflicted.

A male victim was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest and a female victim was found unharmed but bound at the arms and feet with duct tape.

Never did we establish any communication with the gunman), Ready said.

Officers recovered a single handgun, Ready said, which he believed to be either a .38 or .44 caliber weapon.

At this time, the FBI will handle the investigation in conjunction with HPD. NASA is federal property.

The incident began with reports of shots being fired at 1:40 p.m.

The call was reported to Houston Police Department officials shortly before 2 p.m. Friday. ABC-Channel 13 reported that the building was evacuated and the Houston Police Department was called to the scene of Building 44.

The building was surrounded by HPD officers and several Harris County Constable vehicles. HPD units pulled up onto the grass on the west side of the building to watch for the gunman. The rest of the HPD units appeared to be staging a couple of blocks on the south side of the building. Several officers stood with guns drawn at several locations on the campus of Building 44.

An HPD Special Weapons and Tactical team (SWAT) arrived on the scene and took up positions around the building. Employees at Mission Control were put into lockdown and were told to shelter-in-place and not to leave the building.

Clear Creek Independent School District initially put nearby Space Center Intermediate School on lockdown after hearing of the gunman at the Johnson Space Center.

It was for precautionary measures, a CCISD spokesman said. So we can reduce traffic on the street and law enforcement can go about their business unimpeded.

The district later released an announcement telling parents that the school is no longer under lockdown and parents can pick their students up at their regular pick up time of 4 p.m.

Space Center Intermediate was built on land that was part of the JSC property. NASA donated the land to CCISD for a school many years ago.

The facility is located only blocks away from Mission Control, the nerve center for NASA during a launch. The building houses engineering offices, research, labs and the communications offices for JSC.

Officials at JSC report that NASA employees must enter the property with their badges and occasionally may even have their vehicles or personal belongings searched.

We have a standard system of security checks, NASA spokesperson Eileen Holly said. There was absolutely no disruption to facility operation.

NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries reported on ABC-Channel 13 that they received reports of shots fired around 1:40 p.m.

JSC security responded and HPD was contacted for backup. We have no confirmation of anyone being in the building at this time, he said at the time.

The Johnson Space Center houses more than 100 buildings on the complex. All of the employees have been notified.

President George Bush, who was en route back to Washington, D.C., was notified and his staff monitored the situation.

For more information, watch the coverage by our broadcast news partners at ABC-Channel 13.

You can read more about this story in the Sunday edition of The Pasadena Citizen.


http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18240901&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532238&rfi=6

[DjTj]

So the story is that it was an employee who was mad at his boss:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/21/nasa.evacuation/index.html

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Police said Saturday that a bad performance review may have led a NASA contractor to fatally shoot his supervisor and take another employee hostage before killing himself.

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said Saturday an e-mail critical of an employee's work set Friday's events in motion at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The gunman, a career NASA civil servant identified as Bill Phillips, received an e-mail from NASA employee and supervisor David Beverly last month. The e-mail detailed Phillips' "job deficiencies" and outlined a plan for improvement.

The police chief said Phillips, who blamed his supervisor for his negative job performance, bought a five-shot Smith & Wesson revolver and 20 rounds of hollow -point ammunition two days after receiving the letter.

The gunman barricaded himself in a building that houses communications and tracking systems for the space shuttle. In addition to killing Beverly before taking his own life, he had duct-taped a woman to a chair, holding her for hours, police said. The female hostage escaped, suffering minor injuries.

[PleaseBlitz]

You'd think a NASA employee could think of a more diabolical plan than this. C'mon man, you work for FREAKING NASA! Put your brainpan into it.

[jbooma]

So the story is that it was an employee who was mad at his boss:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/21/nasa.evacuation/index.html

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Police said Saturday that a bad performance review may have led a NASA contractor to fatally shoot his supervisor and take another employee hostage before killing himself..

serioulsy WTF is wrong with people, wasn't this guy about retire?? :doh: