Two people dead inside Greenspoint Mall

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

(11/27/07 - HOUSTON) -- Eyewitness News has just spoken with family members of a woman who was shot at Greenspoint Mall this morning who said they now suspect that the shooter was not an ex-boyfriend at all, rather someone who knew the victiml someone who had a dangerous crush on her.

Meanwhile, investigators would only say that it is likely the two knew each other.

The man apparently confronted the woman at about 9:45 a.m. as she was opening the security gate over the store in the Greenspoint Mall, a few miles from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, said Houston Police Lt. Albert Mihalco.

The woman was the only employee present at the Body Luxuries store. After struggling, the man moved the woman into a back room of the store and shot her in the head, Mihalco said. She was found wearing only a bra and panties, but police said they did not know if she'd been sexually assaulted.

"There was a struggle in the back room," Mihalco said. "I'm not sure if he tried to rape her or what was going on."

Seconds later, he walked behind the counter and shot himself in the head, Mihalco said.

He had pulled the security gate back down, so the two were barricaded inside, said Jocklynn Keville of the Greenspoint Management District.

The two were not immediately identified.

Most stores were still closed when police received a report of a shooting just before 10 a.m. Police armed with helmets and shields surrounded the store before discovering the bodies.

But one of the employees preparing for Christmas shoppers was Tom McKnight, 70, who has greeted children at the mall as Santa Claus for the last seven years. He said was wearing his costume and had just left the breakroom when he heard police gathering, then a gunshot about 100 feet away from him.

Glenda Amos, who conducts consumer surveys inside the mall, said someone else in a Santa outfit warned her that a man with a gun was holding a hostage somewhere in the mall.

"Santa Claus told me to go back in (the office)," she said.

"Police started like running to me. When I peeked out the door, that's when I saw they had shields, hats and I saw some of them had guns. I said, 'They've got guns. Somebody's out here trying to rob somebody."'

Amos said police told her and her co-workers to leave the mall.

Employees who were just starting to open their stores saw a security guard ran down the corridors, pounding on gates and doors and telling everyone to evacuate.

"I just left my coat and got out," said store clerk Deborah White. About a dozen people left the mall with her, mostly store employees, she said.

The entire mall was eventually shut down for the day.

A van from the Harris County medical examiner's office pulled up to one of the mall's entrances about 1:30 p.m. Workers hauled out the bodies on gurneys and the van left the scene about 2:30 p.m.

"That's about the worst thing that's happened since I've been here," McKnight said. "But I'm just here during the Christmas season. This is a bad time of the year for this to happen."

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