BASF guard shot Freeport, Texas Chemical Plant Complex

The Facts online newspaper ^ | 1-24-2004 | Staff Reports

[buffyt]

FREEPORT — Police were looking for a man Friday night who they said shot a BASF security guard at the perimeter of the plant near FM 1495 and Highway 36.

Freeport Police Chief Henrietta Gonzalez said the guard approached a suspicious truck about 9:20 p.m. and the man inside said he had been taking pictures. He then shot the guard in the shoulder area, Gonzalez said.

“He was shot at point-blank range,” said Detective Sgt. Sue Dietrich. “You could see the powder burns.”

Police did not release the guard’s name, but said he was doing well at Brazosport Memorial Hospital late Friday night.

The guard told police the shooter was a man of Middle-Eastern descent with bushy hair and a mustache, and had been driving a white pickup with tinted windows and a black stripe. The truck did not have a front license plate, according to police radio reports.

BASF spokeswoman Sharon Rogers said there is no indication the shooting is linked to terrorism.

“There is nothing for us to indicate anything other than there is a shooting that happened on our property,” Rogers said. “We’ll just have to see what the investigation will reveal.”

Rogers said the security guard was employeed by Munday Corp., which provides the plant’s security force.

The culprit left the scene just after the shooting and did not get inside the plant gates, police said.

As of 10:30 p.m., Dietrich said the incident was not being investigated as an attempted terrorist attack.

FBI officials in Houston confirmed they had been notified of the incident but would not comment further.

The guard had been patrolling the perimeter of the plant, outside the gate and near a water tower, but in view of the plant’s ammonia tank. There was no access road or gate into the plant from the site of the shooting.

The wounded guard managed to drive down FM 1495 to the nearest plant gate, where an off-duty sheriff’s deputy working security at the plant called police.

The truck was last seen heading west on Highway 36, according to police radio reports.

[dix]

A little too close to home.

[freebilly]

Now if the guard didn't accidentally shoot himself and concoct this story, a terrorist would probably be more interested in the components making up the polymers than the polymers themselves.

He was confronted in sight of the ammonia tank. Ammonia is very very nasssssssty stuff.

[mylife]

There could be lots of possibilities. I dont know what you can do with the stuff, but platique explosives crossed my mind

[StolarStorm]

"BASF spokeswoman Sharon Rogers said there is no indication the shooting is linked to terrorism"

That kind of astounding lie is beyond insulting. Sharon Rogers should be ashamed of herself and BASF should fire her.

[Ditter]

>>>>The wounded guard managed to drive to a place where police could be called??????>>>>>>
The security guard is out there with no means of communication? No cell phone????? No way to call for reinforcements? No back up????

Someone needs to be fired!

[Stentor]

Going back several years I recall a news article about a security service employee shooting himself then concocting some story about the incident. Several days went by before the investigation turned to him and he 'fessed up. Seems he was trying to impress some lady friend ...

Gave me the same gut feeling.

[RiflemanSharpe]

I worked in the chemicla plants in south east Texas. They are not armed, and generally are more concerned with theif then securing from outside threats.

[been_lurking]

That kind of astounding lie is beyond insulting. Sharon Rogers should be ashamed of herself and BASF should fire her.

So where is the lie? What evidence of terrorism exists? Would you be able to distinguish between a "man of middle eastern decent" and an hispanic, or even a Texas redneck with dark hair?

You folks are a hoot!

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Interesting.
Want to add this to the big AQ thread?

[RiflemanSharpe]

A second note, I know of several places in several of these plants 9I worked contract maintenance for 5 years for Brown and Root) that where a seemingly small act of sabotage would create a huge explosion. There are literally tonnes of volatile chemicals in them.

[CommandoFrank]

Two points:

When I first scanned the headline my first thought was "Why would a BASF guard shoot a Freeper?"

After clearing that up I noticed the line where the shooter drove off in a 'white pickup'. Why do these people have an infinite love for white pickups?

I gotta get a hold on myself... It's going to be a long day.

[yarddog]

I used to date a little cutie from Lake Jackson. Her daddy was a chemist at Dow Chemical in Freeport. I wonder if that is the same plant under different owners?

I guess it is possbible this is not terrorist related but darn, why did they go out of their way to say that?

[7.62 x 51mm]

This whole story doesn't pass the smell test.

[eastforker]

Probably not, he was a contractor from Mundy corp., just bodies mostly.

[jstolzen]

BUMP!

[StolarStorm]

ALL of us in the Houston area know the difference b/w a hispanic and a middle easterner, considering that we see members of both groups all the time. We also have gotton the same reports (from local news) about all of the recent casing of chemical plants. Those who work for or who have friends who work for chem plants in the area have also heard the info coming from the Chemical plant corps themselves about the very high terrorism alert regarding their faciliities.

She's playing the PR game. She should have kept her mouth shut as should others like yourself who don't live here and KNOW NOTHING.

[txeagle]

I live in Jones Creek, about 5 miles away. This is not BASF's manufacturing site, but rather a storage terminal located at the Port of Freeport. BASF has large anyhdrous ammonia storage tanks sited there. Prevailing south/southeast winds would carry fumes over Freeport, west winds towards Surfside toward Galveston.

Like you say, a little explosion could cause a big problem.

[Amelia]

That was my first thought as well.

[tracer]

"The guard told police the shooter was a man of Middle-Eastern descent with bushy hair and a mustache, and had been driving a white pickup with tinted windows and a black stripe. The truck did not have a front license plate, according to police radio reports.

BASF spokeswoman Sharon Rogers said there is no indication the shooting is linked to terrorism.

“There is nothing for us to indicate anything other than there is a shooting that happened on our property,” Rogers said. “We’ll just have to see what the investigation will reveal.”

Ya think, Sharrie? Well, y'all just keep a-thinkin' that and have a nice day, now, ya hear??

BASF = "Bait for Arabic Sicko Fanatics"

[Dog Gone]

It's pretty hard to imagine a plausible motive for shooting the security guard if the suspect was innocently taking photographs of the facility. In fact, it's pretty hard to imagine why anyone would want to take a photograph at all.

This is not proof that the plant was being considered for a terrorist attack, but it's a very logical inference.