Police say that a Texas man “obsessed” with his co-worker shot her five times and killed her because he believed she took breaks that were too long without his permission, according to local reports.
Travis Lee Merrill, 51, is accused of shooting Tamhara Collazo at the Allegiance Trucking office building in Denton County, Texas, on Thursday morning before police arrived at the scene and arrested him, according to Fox affiliate KDFW.
He has reportedly been charged with first-degree murder, and is being held on a $10 million bond.
Newsweek has reached out to Allegiance Trucking for comment via a form on their website outside of business hours.
In a statement to KDFW about the shooting, Allegiance Trucking said, “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. We ask for the community’s support as our company has unfortunately joined the growing national community of workplaces affected by gun violence.”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by KDFW, “He was obsessed with Collazo and began getting every 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 also said that prior to her death, Collazo had reported Merrill’s behavior to HR. Merrill was reportedly required to speak to a counselor before returning to the office.
The affidavit reportedly states that Merrill said Collazo had begun avoiding him, and he began purchasing guns as she “had caused him pain, and he wanted her to feel pain, so he intentionally planned to shoot her at work with everyone there.”
Police say he said he had brought firearms in on two occasions but said that it “didn’t feel like the right time.”
On the day of the shooting, Merrill reportedly said that he followed Collazo when she went on her lunch break, and that when she returned, he followed her to her cubicle and “ambushed her.“
Collazo sustained two gunshot wounds in her arm, two in her chest, and one in her leg, and after police found her underneath her desk, she was taken to the hospital where she died from her injuries, Local12 reported.
Lewisville Police Department’s public information officer Rachel Roberts told Newsweek, “We are saddened by the tragic loss of a woman in our community due to violence. Her life and potential were taken far too soon, and our thoughts are with her family and loved ones.”
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