Tuesday, October 23, 2024 - Police in Texas, USA say that a man suspected of a recent homicide was obsessed with the coworker he killed, and claimed that her “long breaks” were the main reason for the murder.
Travis Merrill, 51, was arrested after he allegedly shot and
killed his coworker Tamhara Collazo at her office desk on Thursday last week.
The two both worked at an Allegiance Trucks office in
Lewisville, which is roughly 30 miles north of Dallas, Texas.
Police say that Merrill opened fire on Thursday afternoon
after the victim came back from a lunch break. She was rushed to a hospital but
died from her injuries.
“As she re-entered after
lunch, he followed her inside to her cubicle and ‘ambushed’ her, firing the gun
several times,” an affidavit obtained by FOX 4 Dallas describes.
The court document revealed that Merrill admitted to being
“obsessed” with the victim and was preoccupied with the breaks she took at
work. The suspect said that he meticulously kept track of what days Merrill
took breaks and how lengthy they were.
“[Merrill said he] was
obsessed with Collazo and began getting ever increasingly angry by her taking
what he considered to be unauthorized long breaks during work hours, as well as
not paying any attention to him,” the document read.
Collazo got wind of Merrill’s concerning behaviour and
reported him to the company’s HR department.
The suspect was then ordered by HR to seek counselling
before he returned to work.
Merrill also told police that Collazo avoided him at work
after she had reported him, which angered him. He then bought firearms and even
told police that he had brought the guns to work on several occasions.
Merrill claimed that the victim had “caused him pain, and he
wanted her to feel pain, so he intentionally planned to shoot her at work with
everyone there,” per FOX 4.
Allegiance Trucks released a statement expressing its
devastation over the incident and noted that its Lewisville office is closed in
the wake of the shooting.
“The company is providing support to the victim’s family and
the rest of our employees who, thankfully, were unharmed, and we have closed
our Lewisville office indefinitely. We are also working closely with law
enforcement during their ongoing investigation,” Allegiance Trucks said.
“We ask for the community’s support as our company has
unfortunately joined the growing national community of workplaces affected by
gun violence.”
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