Flores had barricaded himself into the attic crawlspaces of the Central Texas Workforce Center at 300 Cheyenne Road at about 8:30 a.m., said Carroll Smith, spokeswoman for the Killeen Police Department.
“He was found on the first floor 12 hours later at about 8:30 p.m. in a severely dehydrated condition,” Ms. Smith said. “He was taken to a local emergency room.”
She said Flores had been in prison for a burglary conviction and obviously did not want to go back.
Ms. Smith said the incident began when residents at Stonetree Apartments at 501 Central Texas Expressway called police after 8 a.m. to report a man sleeping in a car in the parking lot. When officers arrived at 8:15 a.m. they awakened him and identified him, she said.
“It was when they called in to find out he had an outstanding warrant that he bolted and ran across the freeway to the Workforce Center,” she said. “He began accosting people in the parking lot trying to take their car keys and make his escape.”
Ms. Smith said when no one would give him their keys, he ran inside the building with officers in pursuit. She said the surrounding blocks were then cordoned off to traffic and pedestrians.
Workforce personnel were evacuated to a fire station down the street, said Ms. Smith. A Killeen school district bus picked them up for transport to a safe haven, she said.
Ms. Smith said during the siege police did not know if Flores was armed. She said power to the building had been disconnected mid-morning so that lights and air conditioning were out. Tactical team members had to be rehydrated periodically.
She said a tactical team officer going into the attic spaces to locate Flores fell through the ceiling. He suffered minor injuries with cuts to two fingers from some metal object he grabbed for as he fell, she said.
“There was no two-way communications with him,” she said. “He was totally hidden.”
Susan Kamas, executive director of Central Texas Workforce Commission, said all her employees were safe after the incident and were sheltered at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Mary Jane Street close by.
Ms. Kamas said all staff was evacuated within five minutes.
“Police told me they had two working dogs and SWAT team members in the building,” she said. “They said he had gone up into the ceiling and wasn’t responding to negotiations.”
Jerry Haisler, director of the Central Texas Workforce Center in Killeen, said police told him late in the day they were prepared for a long entrenchment that could go on all night.
Workforce receptionist, Juana Liggit, said the incident began when a woman ran into the main reception area and asked her to call 911. In the next moment a man ran into the lobby with a police officer close behind with gun drawn, she said.
“He looked to be in his late 20s with blue shorts and a white T-shirt,” she said.
Barbara Strickland, a workforce development technician on the second floor, said she is the fire drill monitor on her floor. She said when the alarm sounded she assumed it was a drill.
“I came out of my office and this man was coming down the hall toward me who I assumed was a customer,” Ms. Strickland said.
“I told him he had to go down the stairwell,” she said. “The man said, ‘OK. I’m sorry,’ and went toward the stairwell.”
Ms. Strickland said the man doubled back and she caught him on the second floor again.
“I said ‘I’ve already told you once that you have to go down the stairwell,’” said Ms. Strickland. “This is a fire drill.”
She said the man ran down the hall. The next thing she heard was that he had gone into the ceiling in the media room.
Ms. Strickland said one of her co-workers who she directed down the staircase approached her after they had evacuated the building and thanked her.
“You saved me from that man who was trying to take my keys away from me in the parking lot,” Ms. Strickland quoted her friend as saying.
“I didn’t realize until then that the man I had been ordering to go downstairs for the fire drill was someone the police were chasing,” Ms. Strickland said.
Anne Nielsen said she was passing the media room on the second floor when she saw a man hanging out of the ceiling.
“He was half-in and half-out and had pushed a ceiling tile away to get up there,” she said. “It was obvious he stepped on a counter to gain access.”
Dianne Jones said she was headed downstairs during the evacuation when a man dashed up the stairwell and came within inches of her.
“He was so close to me,” she said. “Our eyes met, then he was gone. He looked disheveled with dirty shirt and working pants and I thought he was a maintenance worker.”
Haisler said he arranged with police for 20 employees and customers to retrieve their cars from the Workforce parking lot during the afternoon who had critical need for transportation.
“We will be closed Wednesday,” Haisler said. “There will likely be damage to repair from ceiling tiles torn up and such.”
“The good news is that everybody got out safely and no one was hurt,” Haisler said. “Our managers really carried the day.”
Bob Massey, public information officer for the Killeen school district, said police called Bellaire Elementary School at 108 W. Jasper Road right across the street from the Workforce Center when the incident first began.
“They went into lockdown immediately as a precautionary measure,” Massey said. “Nolan School at 505 E. Jasper Road two blocks away also went into lockdown.”
Massey said normal school activities were not altered other than children were not allowed out of the building.
Ms. Smith said the operation involved 50 officers. At 12 hours, the standoff ranks second to a siege five years ago at the corner of Atkinson and 10th Street that lasted 15 hours, said Ms. Smith.
hclark@temple-telegram.com
