LAREDO — Two children were in critical condition Tuesday after being shot by their mother during a standoff in which she killed herself in a state social services office, police said.
The woman, whose identity has not been released, shot her 10-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter at the end of an hours-long hostage standoff at a Texas Department of Health and Human Services office, Laredo Police investigator Joe Baeza said.
The woman had told police negotiators of a litany of complaints against federal and state agencies in Texas and other states, Baeza said. It was not apparent what triggered Monday’s incident.
“This wasn’t like a knee-jerk reaction,” Baeza said. He said it sounded like the agency had denied her services several months ago. She told negotiators no one had helped her and she felt like she had no other option, he said. She wanted restitution for things she felt she was due, he said.
A spokeswoman for the state’s welfare agency did not immediately return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
The 38-year-old woman had recently moved to Laredo from Zanesville, Ohio about 30 miles east of Columbus, Baeza said.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Monday the woman pulled a gun while speaking with two employees. She told them she wanted to speak with a supervisor so they called one. When the supervisor arrived, he convinced her to let the employees go in exchange for keeping him. About 25 people were evacuated from the building.
Police negotiators maintained contact with the woman by phone. As the evening dragged on she repeatedly hung up on them.
The woman released the supervisor around 7:45 p.m. Police continued speaking with her until she hung up again around 11:45 p.m.
Police then heard three gunshots, Baeza said. A SWAT team entered and found the woman and two children in the office. Emergency medical personnel were immediately on the scene, but the woman was pronounced dead, Baeza said.
The children were unconscious when they were taken from the scene and were “very critical,” Baeza said.
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