LAREDO (December 6, 2011)--A mother who had been denied welfare benefits killed herself and shot her two children after a seven-hour standoff at a government social services office, police said.
Tuesday afternoon authorities identified the mother as Rachelle Grimmer, 38, who formerly lived in Zanesville, Ohio, about 30 miles outside of Columbus. Grimmer's 12-year-old daughter, Ramie, and 10-year-old son, Timothy, remained in critical condition Tuesday at a San Antonio hospital.
The standoff began around 5 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Baeza said Grimmer was speaking with two employees when she pulled out a gun and said she wanted to speak to a supervisor.
When the supervisor arrived, he convinced her to let the employees go in exchange for keeping him.
Meanwhile, about 25 other people were moved to safety, police said.
Police negotiators stayed on the phone with Grimmer throughout the evening, but she kept hanging up.
She let the supervisor go unharmed at around 7:45 p.m., but stayed inside the office with her children.
After hanging up the phone at around 11:45 p.m., police heard three shots, and a SWAT team entered the building.
Inside, they found her body and her two wounded children.
Grimmer had recently moved to the area from Zanesville, Ohio, about 30 miles east of Columbus, Baeza said.
She told negotiators about a litany of complaints against state and federal government agencies.
It sounded as if she had been denied services several months ago, Baeza said, but it wasn't clear what specifically triggered Monday's standoff.
"This wasn't like a knee-jerk reaction," Baeza said, adding that the woman felt she was owed restitution of some sort.
The children were "very critical" and unconscious when taken from the scene, he said.
Texas Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said Tuesday the woman first applied for assistance in July.
Goodman said the mother was denied food stamps because she didn't submit enough information.
Goodman said the mother called the office in mid-November to check on her case, which was evidently the last time she contacted a caseworker before Monday's shooting.
Tuesday afternoon authorities identified the mother as Rachelle Grimmer, 38, who formerly lived in Zanesville, Ohio, about 30 miles outside of Columbus. Grimmer's 12-year-old daughter, Ramie, and 10-year-old son, Timothy, remained in critical condition Tuesday at a San Antonio hospital.
The standoff began around 5 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Baeza said Grimmer was speaking with two employees when she pulled out a gun and said she wanted to speak to a supervisor.
When the supervisor arrived, he convinced her to let the employees go in exchange for keeping him.
Meanwhile, about 25 other people were moved to safety, police said.
Police negotiators stayed on the phone with Grimmer throughout the evening, but she kept hanging up.
She let the supervisor go unharmed at around 7:45 p.m., but stayed inside the office with her children.
After hanging up the phone at around 11:45 p.m., police heard three shots, and a SWAT team entered the building.
Inside, they found her body and her two wounded children.
Grimmer had recently moved to the area from Zanesville, Ohio, about 30 miles east of Columbus, Baeza said.
She told negotiators about a litany of complaints against state and federal government agencies.
It sounded as if she had been denied services several months ago, Baeza said, but it wasn't clear what specifically triggered Monday's standoff.
"This wasn't like a knee-jerk reaction," Baeza said, adding that the woman felt she was owed restitution of some sort.
The children were "very critical" and unconscious when taken from the scene, he said.
Texas Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said Tuesday the woman first applied for assistance in July.
Goodman said the mother was denied food stamps because she didn't submit enough information.
Goodman said the mother called the office in mid-November to check on her case, which was evidently the last time she contacted a caseworker before Monday's shooting.