Mother Kills Herself and Shoots Children After Being Denied Foodstamps

Black Like Moi reports:

After being denied food stamp benefits, Rachelle Grimmer, 38, committed suicide in the Texas Health and Human Services Commission office in Laredo late Monday afternoon --- after holding a supervisor hostage and critically wounding her two children, said authorities.

Investigator Joe Baeza of the Laredo Police Department, contends that Grimmer was obviously angry that her case had been denied and that she walked around the office threatening employees with a handgun.

"She had issues and felt that she had been let down by social services in general," Baeza told Reuters on Tuesday. "She was making all sorts of outlandish claims."

Over three dozen employees and participants were present at the time of the incident, and a SWAT team was able to clear the building and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, not before Grimmer took a male supervisor hostage.

According to reports, the supervisor was allowed to go free after two hours of negotiations; but; it swiftly became clear that Grimmer, who had bounced from home to home since arriving in Laredo 8 months ago from Ohio, had a more sinister agenda. Still locked in the office with her 10-year-old son, Timothy, and 12-year-old daughter, Ramie, negotiators at the scene report that at approximately 11:45 p.m. three quick gunshots could be heard coming from the office.

"What had happened was that she had shot each of her children once and herself once, “Baeza said on Tuesday.

The children were listed as being in critical condition early Tuesday, after being air-lifted to a San Antonio hospital; their mother was pronounced dead at the scene.

"We're still trying to track down exactly what happened with the case," said Stephanie Goodman, a spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Commission, to Reuters. "As you can probably imagine, I think she had a lot of other issues she was dealing with as well."

Counseling is being offered to employees who may have been affected by the shooting. An unarmed security guard was the only protection on the scene.