The drama at the Johnson Space Center is over * A gunman shot an employee of the center, and when the police approached him, he shot himself. Another hostage was rescued after being found bound
Saturday 21/4/07
More details - 09:15
The hijacker was identified as William Phillips, a 60-year-old NASA contractor who had a conflict with the slain hostage named David Beverly, a public service employee who worked for the space agency. The shooter was an employee of the "Jacobs Engineering" company, which provides engineering and research services to NASA. The vice president of the company confirmed that Phillips was employed by it for 13 years, and defined him as a "good employee".
The drama is over. Update – 02:41
The drama at the Johnson Space Center in Houston is over. The NASA website states that Houston police reported that the shooter and another person were found dead after a shooting incident at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The police responded to an initial report that a man entered building number 44 with a weapon around 13:40 p.m. Houston time (21:40 p.m. Israel time). The police spokesman made the announcement at a briefing held at 18:25 p.m. Houston time.
"A team of police agents specializing in special situations entered the building after shots were heard from inside. The police did not give the exact date. They found the shooter dead with a gunshot wound to the head. The body of another man, a hostage, was also found. Police believe he was shot in the chest during the first minutes of the incident. Another hostage was forced but was not injured and was taken from the scene by paramedics.
The police were unable at any stage of the case to establish any communication with the gunman who was carrying a gun. The identity of the hostages and the suspect and what their relationship was is still unknown.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is on his way to the center. The NASA website promises updates when they arrive. We will resume the reports in the morning.
A gunman barricades himself in a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston: 00:55 report
NASA evacuated the building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston where an employee of a subcontractor had barricaded himself. A negotiation team and the Houston police surround Building 44 at the Johnson Space Center, which mainly includes laboratories as well as the satellite and spacecraft tracking center.
The person in question is white, thin, 1.75 tall, about 50 years old. He was wearing glasses and a blue-gray t-shirt and blue jeans.
The police were called to the scene at 13:30 local time (21:30 Israel time). It is not yet clear who is ordering.
NASA spokesman James Hartfield said that all employees who were supposed to be in the building were evacuated and sent home. The spokesman claimed that there is now tight security at the space center.
About a kilometer from the building is the middle school where the employees of the space center, operated by Creek County, study. The students remained locked in the schools and the parents were forbidden to come pick them up. The school has 1,200 students.
As a common measure in such cases, the doors of the control center were locked.
Friday, 20//4/07
Update 23:40 - The barricaded man has been identified as an employee of one of NASA's subcontractors. At this time, a press conference is being held with the police chief on the spot.
Update 23:30 p.m., Fox network again, and this time a report that was not confirmed by NASA security officers that shots were heard at the scene.
Report as of 22:55, 20/4/07
The US television networks, including Fox, whose broadcasts are received in Israel, report the evacuation of building number 44 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston due to a report of a gunman. The police were called to the scene at 13:40 local time. A team from the security department at the space center and a team of elite unit policemen were called to the scene.
The man's identity is still unknown. We will continue and report later.
2 תגובות
Indeed busy, only the list of things I want to translate and can't is long. Don't forget that when I wrote the piece it was in real time and there was a fear that someone might want to harm the American space program - the building is used to communicate with the spaceships outside.
It was only towards night that it was clear that it was something local, so I stopped updating.
Avi Blizovsky,
You are certainly a busy person, and your work is blessed. It doesn't seem necessary to work on editing such an article and publish it on the science website. Science news is not here.