William Phillips

Background

William Phillips was identified as the gunman in the Johnson Space Center (JSC) shooting in Houston, Texas, United States. He was an employee for Jacobs Engineering and worked at Building 44, the Communication and Tracking Development Laboratory.

Phillips was known to be unmarried and lived by himself. Police said he was under review for poor job performance and he feared being dismissed. Michael Coats, director of the JSC, said Phillips was "until recently, a good employee." Police and company officials discussed that Phillips had thought he was about to be fired after his job performance came into question, though Jacobs Engineering officials said they did not have plans to fire him.

Co-workers told MSNBC.com on condition of anonymity that Phillips was a competent engineer but was considered by at least some to be an office hothead. Relatives described Phillips as a solitary introvert who lived a simple, frugal life. He had not returned to his hometown in Tennessee since his father died in 2003. His last correspondence was at Christmas, when he sent a card saying how the holidays were lonely without family. Phillips had gone to lunch Friday with Beverly and another man who works at their office. Relatives said Phillips did not have much in life but work and lived in fear of losing his job, and he had no children or siblings.

Jacobs Engineering general manager Lon Miller told reporters that the e-mail Phillips received last month from his employer cited problems such as repeated tardiness to meetings and failures to identify corrective actions. Miller said Phillips was slow to improve and seemed to fear termination. Miller said: "I think he did." Miller also said: "But I don't know why." Police said Phillips printed that e-mail March 18, the same day he bought a .38-caliber revolver and 20 hollowpoint bullets thought to have been used in the shootings. Police said the e-mail was found in Phillips' lunch bag Friday.

The offence

On April 20, 2007, a contractor identified as William Phillips entered a conference room at Building 44 at NASA's Johnson Space Center and pointed a .38 or .357-caliber snub-nosed revolver at one person, ordering everybody else to leave. Phillips confronted David Beverly about his job review, saying "You're the one who's going to get me fired."

Phillips then shot and killed David Beverly and took a hostage, Fran Crenshaw. Police said Phillips bound Crenshaw to a chair with duct tape and barricaded himself with her inside the second floor of Building 44 for about three hours.

During the standoff, SWAT teams surrounded the building. Building 44 and four other nearby buildings were evacuated, while NASA employees in other buildings were ordered to remain inside their buildings, then were later told they were free to go at the end of the workday. A nearby school, Space Center Intermediate School, was temporarily placed on lockdown.

The incident ended when Phillips committed suicide with a single shot to the head as SWAT teams attempted to communicate with him. Crenshaw later escaped her bonds and alerted authorities.

Investigation

Police said they began calling the land line in Beverly's office at about 2 p.m. trying to make contact. Police said Phillips answered and even returned a call once but never spoke.

Crenshaw was taken to St. John Hospital by ambulance and then released for questioning by the Houston Police Department. Police said Crenshaw was physically unharmed and walked out of the hospital on her own.

Investigators could not find any co-workers who ever witnessed any incidents in which Phillips had been called "stupid." Phillips scrawled a message on a dry-eraser board indicating he was tired of being called "stupid." The account also recorded that Phillips wrote notes on a dry-eraser board, with "Basically it was a rambling of people calling him stupid." Police said Phillips listed the names and contact information for two relatives and wrote that he did not hurt Crenshaw because "she was a very, very nice person."

Homicide investigators searched Phillips' house where he lived alone and found no guns or any evidence about the shooting. Police Chief Harold Hurtt said: "I do not know what occurred between the two gentlemen today." Hurtt said Crenshaw, who worked in the same general area, was presumably taken hostage after Beverly was shot. Hurtt said: "She was very courageous, a calming influence in this whole issue and apparently was a very positive relationship between her and the suspect because he at no time that we know of threatened to do injury to her," and said: "She was very courageous, a calming influence in this whole issue and apparently was a very positive relationship between her and the suspect because he at no time that we know of threatened to do injury to her."

Mike Coats, director of the Johnson Space Center, said they were trying to understand why and how the incident happened: "Right now we’re trying to understand why this happened, how this happened." NASA spokesman Doug Peterson said the agency would review its security and stated: "Any organization would take a good, hard look at the kind of review process we have with people," and added: "Any organization would take a good, hard look at the kind of review process we have with people."

Police Chief Harold Hurtt also said there was apparently a dispute between Phillips and Beverly but did not elaborate.

Timeline

• 1:00 p.m. (UTC-5) — William Phillips entered a conference room at Building 44, pointed a .38 or .357-caliber snub-nosed revolver at one person, and ordered everybody else to leave.
• ~1:40 p.m. — Three gunshots were heard; Police said Beverly was initially shot twice and was still alive.
• Shortly after ~1:40 p.m. — Phillips shot Beverly twice more after leaving and returning seconds later.
• ~1:30 p.m. — Phillips walked into Beverly's office, where Beverly and Crenshaw were.
• 2:00 p.m. — Police began calling the land line in Beverly's office, trying to make contact.
• 4:30 p.m. — Officers heard gunfire, broke down the door of Beverly's office, and found Beverly's body and Phillips, shot in the head.
• 5:00 p.m. — The incident ended as SWAT teams attempted to communicate with Phillips when he committed suicide with a single shot to the head.

Arrest

William Phillips did not face arrest; he committed suicide on the same day as the Johnson Space Center shooting.

Trial

No trial information was provided.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was provided.

Appeals

No appeals information was provided.

Outcome

William Phillips shot and killed David Beverly and took Fran Crenshaw hostage for over three hours before committing suicide by shooting himself with a single shot to the head.

Crenshaw escaped her bonds and alerted authorities.

Aftermath

NASA employees in other buildings were ordered to remain inside their buildings during the incident and were later told they were free to go at the end of the workday. Roads within the 1,600-acre space center campus were blocked off, and doors to Mission Control were locked as standard procedure.

A nearby middle school kept teachers and students inside as classes ended. NASA employees and contract workers were kept informed of the situation by e-mail.

President Bush was informed about the gunman as he flew back to Washington from an event in Michigan, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

The incident was prompted by a dispute related to a pending review of job performance and an e-mail message from Jacobs Engineering describing problems with Phillips' work and offering suggestions on improvement. Police Lt. Larry Baimbridge said: "I can't understand why you would take your own life because you think you're going to lose your job. But to take someone else's life as well? I just can't understand it."

Michael Coats also said they had reviewed their procedures earlier this week because of the Virginia Tech shootings, and said: "But of course we never believed this could happen here to our family and our situation."

In later remarks attributed to Michael Coats, he stated: "Right now we’re trying to understand why this happened, how this happened," and described the event as involving a contractor who shot a hostage before killing himself.

Police said the violence in Building 44 prompted an evacuation of the building and four other nearby buildings.

Victims and participants

Perpetrator

William Phillips, described as a 60-year-old unmarried man who lived by himself, was identified as the gunman. He was an employee of Jacobs Engineering (described as Jacobs Engineering of Pasadena, Calif. in one report) and worked for NASA for 12 to 13 years. Police said he was known to the victims David Beverly and Fran Crenshaw.

Michael Coats described Phillips as "until recently, a good employee."

Victims

David Beverly was identified as the slain hostage-taker shooting victim. He was a 62-year-old electrical parts specialist employed by NASA and worked as a civil servant for NASA. He was shot in the chest and killed. Another account said he was shot four times to the chest. Police said Beverly was probably killed "in the early minutes of the whole ordeal." He died during the incident on April 20, 2007.

Fran Crenshaw was identified as a contract worker with MRI Technologies. She was held hostage by Phillips. She was bound to a chair with duct tape, attempted to calm Phillips, and eventually escaped her bonds and alert authorities. Police and other accounts described her as physically unharmed and released for questioning after being taken to St. John Hospital. A police captain, Dwayne Ready, said: "escaped after being bound to a chair with duct tape."

Witnesses and other named individuals

Mike Coats, director of the JSC, gave statements during the incident. Doug Peterson, NASA spokesman, gave statements about security review. Harold Hurtt, police chief, gave statements about the dispute and Crenshaw’s role as a calming influence. Larry Baimbridge, police lieutenant, gave statements about the dry-erase board notes and his inability to understand the suicide. Dwayne Ready, police captain, identified Crenshaw as a second hostage who escaped with minor injuries and described the duct tape binding. Curt Tallman, described as a longtime friend and colleague of Beverly and as a Boeing electronic parts engineer, reported hearing gunfire and witnessing Phillips point a gun at him when Tallman opened the door to Dave's office. James Oberg, identified as a space analyst in Houston, was referenced as supplementing a report. John Prosser, executive vice president of Jacobs Engineering, confirmed the gunman was a company employee but declined to release information about him. Lon Miller, Jacobs Engineering general manager, discussed the e-mail sent to Phillips describing work problems. Michael Sampson, a co-manager of a NASA program, described Beverly. Linda Beverly, Beverly’s wife, provided comments. James Smith Jr., identified as Phillips’ cousin, provided comments. Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, provided information that President Bush was informed.