Killer left final words before slaying co-worker
A gun-toting woman said farewell to her grandmother before shooting a colleague to death and wounding another at a food distribution plant Monday morning in Missouri City, police said.
Suspected assailant Kristine Peralez streamed her final words to her family on Facebook around 2 a.m. and blamed an unspecified person for the violence yet to unfold inside the Ben E. Keith Foods building where she worked on Cravens Road.
“This is your fault,” Perelez said, according to footage obtained by KPRC-TV. “I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t want it to end like this.”
Peralez died of a gunshot wound to her upper body after the shooting and, pending an autopsy, Missouri City police are unsure if she killed herself or was wounded in a shootout with an officer.
Police said she killed manager Francisco Reyes and wounded Fedencio Janas, who took a bullet to the leg and is being treated at Southwest Memorial Hospital, according to police.
Several officers arrived at the facility, and one exchanged fire with the shooter, Police Chief Mike Berezin said at a brief news con-
ference Monday morning.
Peralez was apprehended and rushed to Memorial Hermann, where she died.
“This has been a tragic situation,” the company said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Our thoughts are with the families of all involved. We are currently working with officials to provide any information useful to their active investigation.”
Motive unclear
Police have not determined a motive, Berezin said. Investigators are looking into whether Peralez targeted the employees.
He acknowledged that the shooter posted items on a social media account, which the police department is reviewing.
In her 48-second video, Peralez said goodbye to her friends and family.
“Tell my grandma I love her,” she added. “I’m not crazy.”
About 20 to 25 workers were inside the building when shots were fired, Berezin said.
Several employees talked with Peralez before the shooting broke out, he said.
Ben E. Keith Foods is a national food distribution company. The Missouri City location opened in 2013 and has 431 employees, according to a Missouri City spokeswoman.
The company, like many private employers, prohibits weapons on the job. Officials with Ben E. Keith said the prohibition is placed in both English and Spanish on all entrances to the property.
Other workplace killings
Monday’s incident was at least the third time in the past 10 months someone walked into a Houston-area workplace and shot a current or former co-worker.
Daniel Ferraretto, a disgruntled ex-mechanic, burst Dec. 27 into the auto repair shop he used to work at, killing two former colleagues, Kendric Wade and Mary McGehee. The furious shooting spree during normal business hours sent employees and customers scrambling. His intent, police said, was to target the owner of Bemer Plus, who dove out a window when the shots rang out. Ferraretto then committed suicide with his own weapon.
At another car repair shop in Dickinson on Jan. 12, Joshua Allen Lee, 29, of Friendswood, shot the manager of Gay Family Auto over a dispute of how many hours Lee was assigned to work. Michael Pavlas, 38, was shot numerous times, but none were life-threatening.
In a scene unrelated to the workplace, a man fatally shot his wife, nurse Senta Yolanda Authorlee, 53, outside a Meyerland assisted-living facility on July 12. Anthony Authorlee, 61, later turned himself in to police.
Nationally, workplace murders represent a small share of the homicides in America. Of the 17,250 homicides reported in the U.S. in 2016, 500 — or 2.9 percent — were workers, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a part of the Centers for Disease Control. However, that was an increase from 2015, when 417 workplace homicides were reported nationally.