RAMIE and TIMOTHY GRIMMER - 12 and 10 - San Antonio TX

Texas mom who was denied food stamps shoots children, kills self at welfare office


Woman commits suicide after police standoff; daughter updated Facebook to say 'may die 2day'


BY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, December 7 2011, 2:15 PM


Ulysses S. Romero/The Laredo Morning Times via AP
Emergency personnel respond to tragic shooting at Texas Health and Human Services Office in Laredo on Monday.

Facebook G
Ramie Grimmer's Facebook page was updated to say ‘might die 2day’ during her mother’s standoff with police.

A
Texas mother who was desperate over being denied food stamps shot her
two children and then committed suicide after a seven-hour standoff with
SWAT teams at a state welfare office, authorities said.

Ramie
Grimmer, 12, and her brother Timothy, 10, were clinging to life at a San
Antonio hospital after Monday night's horrific ordeal, during which
Ramie apparently updated her Facebook page to say "may die 2day."

The chilling incident began about 5 p.m. Monday when Rachelle Grimmer, 38, visited a state welfare office in Laredo to discuss a food stamp application she had submitted in July, police said.

Caseworkers took Grimmer to a private room, where the distraught mom pulled a gun and threatened employees, authorities said.

Police
negotiators spent the next several hours trying to persuade Grimmer to
bring her children out safely, but she refused, instead haranguing them
about the red tape she grappled with while trying to feed her family,
The Associated Press reported.

At one point, Ramie Grimmer posted
an update on Facebook that said "tear gas " — an apparent reference to
tear gas being fired at the building.

Finally, just before
midnight, cops heard three shots and stormed the building, where they
discovered Grimmer lying dead in a pool of blood.

Her children were nearby, unconscious and bleeding from gunshot wounds.

Both kids were reported in critical condition on Wednesday.

Authorities
told the AP that Grimmer was denied food stamps because she had left
some key information out of her initial application.

She and her children had recently moved to Texas from Ohio and appeared to be struggling to say on their feet.

“She was dealing with a lot of issues," Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman told the AP.

Grimmer had last contacted the agency in mid-November, but had fallen out of touch since then, Goodman said.

This may need to be moved to murdered.

Oh my...this is so sad. The kids are still alive though right?

Sadly, both children have since died. Ramie passed away yesterday and Timothy held on until today at 5:45.

The system, society and everyone that knew them failed these poor children.

Thanks rosie 96 for the update. Welcome to J4C!

Sad it was such bad news. Moving to Resolved/other. Case closed.

What an awful tragedy. So sorry for these kids. I wish they could have made it.