Johnson Space Center shooting

The Johnson Space Center shooting was a hostage situation that occurred on April 20, 2007 in Building 44, the Communication and Tracking Development Laboratory, at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. The gunman killed one person, injured another, and took a hostage for over three hours until finally committing suicide. It happened just four days after the Virginia Tech shootings, and was at first suspected to be a copycat of the shooting spree.

The gunman, William Phillips, was an employee of Jacobs Engineering and he worked in Building 44. Police said Phillips was under review for poor job performance and he feared being dismissed.

Timeline
The situation began at 1:00 p.m. (UTC-5) when gunman William Phillips entered a conference room, pointed a .38 or .357-caliber snub-nosed revolver at one person, and ordered everybody else to leave.

He immediately confronted David Beverly about his job review, saying "You're the one who's going to get me fired." The two talked for several minutes. Then, at approximately 1:40 p.m., two gunshots were heard. Police said Beverly was initially shot twice, but he was still alive. Phillips left and then returned seconds later to shoot Beverly twice more.

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. During this, Crenshaw attempted to calm Phillips, with whom she is reported to have had a positive relationship. Later, Crenshaw was able to wiggle out of the tape and alert authorities about what was happening.

Meanwhile, SWAT teams surrounded the building. 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. A nearby school, Space Center Intermediate School, was placed on lockdown temporarily. NASA employees were allowed to go home with some reports of employees having to travel on foot due to their vehicles being blocked by police and emergency units.

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.

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 under her own power out of the hospital.

Building 44
According to the JSC website, Building 44 is a communications and engineering office building with two stories. The building contains office space and a few labs to support tracking of spacecraft.

Perpetrator


The gunman was identified as William Phillips. He was 60 years old and unmarried. He had no children, was living in poverty despite his job, and lived alone. Phillips was an employee of Jacobs Engineering, and had worked for NASA for 12 to 13 years. After killing David Beverly, he took his own life.

Michael Coats, director of the JSC, said Phillips was, "until recently, a good employee." Phillips knew at least two of the three victims, David Beverly and Fran Crenshaw. Police said there was "some kind of dispute" between Beverly and Phillips, possibly related to a pending review of job performance.

Victims
A person identified as David Beverly was shot four times to the chest and killed. He was 62 years old and an electrical parts specialist employed by NASA.

Another person was injured and he remains unidentified by police.

The hostage, identified as Fran Crenshaw, is a contract worker with MRI Technologies. During the incident, she attempted to calm Phillips and eventually escaped her bonds.