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God.
NASA security personnel as well as Houston police responded to "a report about a person with a weapon" at Building 44 on the space center's campus, agency spokeswoman Lynette Madison told MSNBC.com. Other sources with the police department told NBC News that the person was said to be carrying a gun.
She said that personnel were evacuated from the building, and that the situation was "ongoing." Police told NBC that the building was being searched, but that they had not yet found any sign of a gunman.
Building 44 is a research and engineering building on a remote part of Johnson Space Center's sprawling campus, far from the Mission Control buildings.
I hope it's just hysteria. I have friends there.
Update: Damn it. Shots have been fired. Flip over for details & live video.
Update from Anna: The gunman has barricaded himself inside building 44 of Johnson Space Center. SWAT has been unable to establish communication with him and is unsure of which room he's in. They also do not know at this time whether there are hostages involved.
Another update from Anna: The gunman is a white male, 50-60 years old. Hostage negotiators are being brought to the scene. Still no confirmation of whether this is a hostage situation, but SWAT is working on the assumption that he may be holding hostages. Multiple confirmations of two shots fired. SWAT is also bringing lights and sound systems on scene in anticipation of a long negotiation.
Update4: Confirmation of at least one wounded, who is being treated at the scene.
Update5: News conference in a few minutes. Gunman may have suicided.
update6: The second news conference has been cancelled for now. It looks like we won't get any new info for a while. When we have it, one of the FPers will update this post.
Update7: HPD held a brief news conference in front of building 44:
The situation started when the gunman entered building 44. Evacuated employees reported hearing two shots fired. The gunman took two hostages, one male and one female. While HPD was trying to establish communications with the gunman, they heard an additional gunshot. They thought the suspect shot himself, so SWAT entered the building. They discovered the gunman had suicided. The female hostage was injured and is being treated at the scene. The male hostage was found dead. Police are currently unsure of the relationships between the gunman and his hostages.
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