Shots Fired At Texas Senator, John Whitmire’s, Office

Texas Senator John Whitmire’s office was shot at early on Thursday morning. The office was unoccupied at the time, and no one was injured.

Whitmire said that staff who arrived later in the morning blamed overnight storms for the damage. It was not until maintenance arrived to try to stop one of the leaks that they realized it was a bullet hole.

“I am just glad it was in the middle of the night and no one was working then,” Senator John Whitmire told reporters.

The Houston Police Department and Texas Rangers are still trying to determine a motive for the incident, but have no leads as of now.

Senator Whitmire also did not have any theories on who could have shot his office, only implying that it could have something to do with any one of the “controversial issues” he deals with.

“I deal with some controversial issues and I’m very easy to locate,” he said.

Whitmire did, however, describe an odd incident at a late night dinner, where he met a “creepy” man in a trench coat. He did not give any further details, though.

According to 911 logs, one neighbor of the Whitmire office heard a “loud banging sound or possible gun shots” around 12:30 a.m. Another said she heard “really fast” shots like “a semi-automatic of some sort.”

Amy Crouser, who was asleep in her apartment across the street from the Whitmire office, said it took her several moments before she realized it was gunfire.

Rick Edwards, another neighbor, said it sounded like “someone had a baseball bat and they were hitting a metal garbage pail.” After hearing the gun shots, he ran into his bathroom and called 911.

At least four shots were fired overnight, and one of them pierced the window right over the door of the large, white, two-story Whitmire office. Another pierced an American flag hanging over the fireplace.

“When you look at the damage, and start tracing it, there are bullet holes here in the office, and at least four slugs… a couple of them ricocheted around,” Senator Whitmire said. “There are bullet slugs everywhere. One lodged in a framed picture. It’s pretty amazing.”

Armando Walle, who represents the 140th district in Houston, sent his prayers to Senator Whitmire shortly after hearing about the incident.

Praying for safety of my friend @whitmire_john & his staff. And all staff who work in our offices across TX. #txlege https://t.co/PvZXSnRtEA

— Armando Walle (@RepWalle) March 10, 2016

The Houston Chronicle described Senator Whitmire as “visibly shaken” and the senator did express some concerns about his safety after the incident.

“I don’t know how you protect yourself from some person determined to shoot up your office,” he said.

He also told reporters he was concerned about his staff.

“I do worry about my staff, you know. They didn’t sign on for this environment.”

Senator Whitmire is a Democrat, and was one of the Texas Eleven, who fled to New Mexico in order to prevent the passage of legislation that would have benefited state Republicans. He has served in the senate for more than 30 years, and according to the Houston Chronicle, is one of the state’s most powerful legislators.

He is also Chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. He has passed legislation ensuring children under 12 would no longer receive criminal charges for truancy and has also asked that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice end the practice of last meals.

Please stay tuned to the Inquisitr for more details on this developing story.

[Image by Eric Gray/AP Images]