Police say a Texas man was reportedly obsessed with the coworker he killed, claiming her “long breaks” were a main motive for the murder.
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Travis Merrill, 51, was arrested following the alleged shooting death of his coworker, Tamhara Collazo, at her desk last Thursday. Both individuals were employed at the Allegiance Trucks office in Lewisville, approximately 30 miles north of Dallas.
According to police, Merrill opened fire on that afternoon shortly after the victim returned from a lunch break. The victim was quickly transported to a hospital but unfortunately succumbed to her injuries.
“As she re-entered after lunch, he followed her inside to her cubicle. [He] ‘ambushed’ her, firing the gun several times,” an affidavit per FOX 4 Dallas reads.
Court Documents Allege the Suspect Became ‘Obsessed’ with His Coworker’s Break Schedule
The court document disclosed that Merrill confessed to being “obsessed” with the victim, expressing a fixation on her work breaks. The suspect stated that he carefully monitored the days when Merrill took breaks and the duration of each one.
“[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 alleges.
Collazo became aware of Merrill’s troubling behavior and promptly reported it to the company’s human resources department. Consequently, Merrill was required to undergo counseling before resuming his duties.
Merrill informed the police that Collazo began to avoid him at work following her report, which fueled his anger. In response, he purchased firearms and admitted to bringing the guns to work multiple times.
Per Fox 4, Merrill said 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.”
Allegiance Trucks issued a statement to FOX 4 expressing their sorrow about the incident. They also announced the temporary closure of their Lewisville office following the shooting.
“The company is providing support to the victim’s family and the rest of our employees who, thankfully, were unharmed. We have closed our Lewisville office indefinitely. We are also working closely with law enforcement during their ongoing investigation,” Allegiance Trucks told the outlet.
“[Allegiance Trucks] ask for the community’s support as our company has unfortunately joined the growing national community of workplaces affected by gun violence,” they added.