NASA's Johnson Space Center Evacuated On Report Of Person With Gun

According to MSNBC: Johnson Space center building evacuated amid reports of person with gun.

Developing...

UPDATE:
Johnson Space Center is where manned space missions are controlled from once the spacecraft have entered orbit. It's also the home for the space shuttle program.

UPDATE:
Via Anonymous Emailer - Building evacuated at Johnson Space Center amid reports of person on grounds with gun:

A person with a weapon was in Building 44," confirmed NASA spokesperson Kylie Clem.

NASA security responded and HPD was called.

More than 15 police cars could be seen outside the building from Air 11.

HPD is also sending SWAT.

At least one ambulance was also sent to the scene, but there have been no reports of injuries so far.

Building 44 houses the communications and engineering departments.

UPDATE 4/21/2007:

The situation ended three hours after it began. The gunman killed his hostage right before he went and killed himself. Coming less than a week after the Virginia Tech massacre, NASA officials said that they had reviewed their security protocols and thought they were sufficient. It's clear that they weren't.

A NASA contract worker took a handgun inside an office building Friday 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 60-year-old William Phillips. He had apparently had a dispute with the slain hostage, police said.

NASA spokesman Doug Peterson said the agency would review its security.

(AP) NASA security officers stand outside an evacuated building at NASA's Johnson Space Center Friday,...
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"Any organization would take a good, hard look at the kind of review process we have with people," Peterson 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 identified the slain hostage as David Beverly, a civil servant who worked at the agency. Beverly, who was 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.

Law enforcement is trying to figure out the motive. There had been a total of two hostages, but Crenshaw had not been harmed.