Fired employee kills co-worker, self at Houston-area company
Juan A. Lozano, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Wednesday, May 04, 2016 12:35 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, May 04, 2016 04:03 PM EDT
Officers respond to reports of a deadly shooting at the Knight Transportation office in Katy, Texas, Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Authorities said a recently fired employee opened fire at the transportation company. (KPRC Houston via AP)
KATY, Texas -- A man dismissed last month from a Houston-area transportation company stormed into the facility and opened fire on Wednesday, fatally shooting a former co-worker and injuring two others before turning the gun on himself, saying his life had been ruined, sheriff's officials said.
The man was armed with a shotgun and a pistol when he arrived at the Knight Transportation office in Katy, about 20 miles west of Houston, according to Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman. The sheriff said the man "parked right outside the building and came straight in."
The man was heard by workers saying something to the effect of "you all ruined my life" as he walked through the building, and may have been looking for someone, sheriff's spokesman Ralph Gonzales said.
The gunman fatally shot one man, who was found dead at the scene by responding officers. Two other workers were injured by shrapnel or other debris from the gunfire, and both were treated at the scene, Gonzales said.
"Ultimately the suspect took his own life," Hickman said.
The names of the gunman and the victims haven't been released. The sheriff said one deputy injured his knee during the incident.
A message left with Knight Transportation also wasn't immediately returned. Hickman had no information how long the man had been employed by the Phoenix-based company, which provides truckload transportation services.
The sheriff said during a news conference shortly after the shooting that the gunman had been fired that morning, but Gonzales said investigators later determined the dismissal happened two weeks ago.
Numerous patrol vehicles surrounded the facility as deputies responded to reports of gunfire. A nearby high school went on lockdown for about an hour as a precaution, said Denisse Cantu, a spokeswoman with the Katy Independent School District. She said three other district campuses also were briefly closed during the incident.
