NASA worker kills hostage, himself in Texas
He took a handgun past security and into a Johnson Space Center building. NASA plans to review safety procedures.
HOUSTON - A NASA contract worker took a handgun into an office building yesterday at the Johnson Space Center and fatally shot a hostage before killing himself, police said. A second hostage escaped with minor injuries.
The gunman was able to take a snub-nosed revolver past NASA security and barricade himself in the building, which houses communications and tracking systems for the space shuttle, authorities said.
NASA and police identified him as William Phillips, 60. He had apparently had a dispute with the slain hostage, police said.
To enter the space center, workers flash an ID badge as they drive past a security guard. The badge allows workers access to designated buildings. NASA spokesman Doug Peterson said the agency would review its security.
NASA identified the slain hostage as David Beverly, a civil servant who worked at the agency. Beverly, shot in the chest, was probably killed "in the early minutes of the whole ordeal," police said.
A second hostage, identified by NASA as Fran Crenshaw, escaped after being bound to a chair with duct tape, police Capt. Dwayne Ready said.
The gunman, an employee of Jacobs Engineering of Pasadena, Calif., shot himself once in the head more than three hours after the standoff began, police said. Initial reports said two shots were fired about 1:40 p.m., and another shot was heard about 5 p.m.
John Prosser, executive vice president of Jacobs Engineering, confirmed that the gunman was a company employee but would release no information about him.
Police Chief Harold Hurtt said there was apparently a dispute between Phillips and Beverly, but he did not elaborate.
During the confrontation, NASA employees in the building were evacuated, and others were ordered to remain in their offices for several hours. Roads in the 1,600-acre space center campus were blocked off, and a nearby middle school kept teachers and students inside as classes ended.
Doors to Mission Control were locked as standard procedure.
NASA workers were kept informed by e-mail.
Jacobs Engineering provides engineering for the international space station, space shuttle and other spacecraft programs, and conducts research and development for new technology. In 2005, the company received a five-year contract with the space center worth up to $1.15 billion.