Murder-Suicide at Local Work Site

An ex-employee at a local office forced his former girlfriend into a computer room, shot her, and then killed himself, authorities report. The male, a former independent contractor and the female employee, a systems programmer, both apparently died of gunshot wounds, police reported.

The apparent murder-suicide occurred at 9:45 AM on Tuesday after the male arrived shortly before 9:45 and forced his former girlfriend into a computer room. He had worked as a contractor but was let go about four months ago. The employer gave no reason for his departure pending further investigation. The female employee was the mother of a young child, coworkers said. She had worked at the office for approximately one year.

After the two had been in the computer room for a few minutes, the manager opened the door to ask if everything was okay. The man told the manager to get out and waved a gun, reported one of the officers on the scene. The manager backed out of the doorway, directed the other employees to leave the building, and called the police.

A police SWAT team arrived at 9:51 AM and gained entry to the room through a suspended ceiling crawl space. When they reached the area above the computer room, the ceiling panels were removed to allow a view of the two bodies on the floor below.

The evacuated workers had been calmly told to exit the building. After being assembled outside, they were told of the intruder. "There wasn't any panic. People were just worried and some were upset after being informed of the nature of the problem. They had to wait for hours while the police were inside the building. Finally, one woman came over crying and said, 'He killed her,'" reported a business owner from across the street. "It's such a sad thing, such a tragedy," he said.

Employees were escorted to a local community agency following the shooting where they were given lunch and had a chance to talk with the manager and several police officers who were on the scene. The employees were also offered grief counseling appointments with local counseling professionals.