The gunman, William Phillips, an employee for Jacobs Engineering who worked at Building 44,[1] shot and killed one person and took a hostage for over three hours before committing suicide.

[2] The situation began at 1:00 p.m. (UTC-5) when gunman William Phillips entered a conference room, pointed a .38 or .357-caliber snub-nosed revolver[1] at one person, and ordered everyone else to leave.

[2][4] Phillips then took Fran Crenshaw, who happened to be in the area, hostage and bound her to a chair with duct tape.

The incident ended at 5:00 p.m. as the SWAT teams attempted to communicate with Phillips when the gunman committed suicide with a single shot to the head.

Police said there was "some kind of dispute" between Beverly and Phillips, possibly related to a pending review of job performance.