A Texas man was charged with the murder of his co-worker, who authorities say he was “obsessed” with, and is accused of killing her at their workplace in front of his other colleagues.
Travis Merrill faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Tahmara Collazo.
Lewisville Police responded to an “active shooter” call on Thursday, Oct. 17, at trucking accessory company Allegiance Trucking.
When they arrived and entered the office building, they immediately encountered 51-year-old Merrill, who had his hands raised and admitted he was the shooter. He was taken into custody without incident.
Authorities located Collazo under a desk in her cubicle, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Police say she was shot twice in her arm, twice in her chest, and once in her leg. First responders rushed her to a local hospital, where she died.
Merrill agreed to an interview with detectives in which he confessed that he opened fire on Collazo and spoke about his motivations for the shooting.
According to a police affidavit, he told police he was “obsessed with Collazo and became increasingly angry” over what he deemed “unauthorized long breaks” that she would take at work. He also became frustrated that she was “not paying any attention” to him.
Collazo reported Merrill to her supervisors for watching her closely. Merrill told detectives he was ordered to take time away from work and couldn’t return until he spoke with a counselor. Upon his return, he said he could tell that Collazo was avoiding him and that his colleagues “must think he’s a psychopath.”
Her behavior only roused his anger even more, so he purchased some firearms and “practiced his movements with them” at home. He told investigators that Collazo “had caused him pain, and he wanted her to feel pain, so he intentionally planned to shoot her at work with everyone there,” according to the affidavit.
He confessed that he drove to work with his guns on his day off but stayed in the parking lot. The day before the shooting, he hauled the firearms to work again but said that day “didn’t feel like the right time.”
The day Collazo was shot, Merrill admitted that he followed her out to the parking lot during her lunch break and watched her sit in her car while he prepared his guns in his car.
When Collazo started making her way back inside the office, Merrill followed her, “ambushed” her in her cubicle and fired his gun several times, the affidavit states.
Two dozen co-workers witnessed the shooting.
After his arrest at the office, Merrill was booked into the Denton County Jail on a $10 million bond.
In a statement to Fox4News, 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.”
