Leasing manager who survived cancer killed in apartment murder-suicide, TX reports say

A woman who worked as an apartment manger for 30 years was killed in a murder-suicide inside a Texas leasing office, according to police and news reports.

Police in Houston said two workers at Westchase Forest Apartments were shot at the complex Monday, Feb. 12. One of them, identified by multiple reports as 56-year-old Lisa Blackburn, died from her injuries.

The accused gunman entered the leasing office and held Blackburn and a male worker hostage, police told KRIV.

The suspect later shot and killed Blackburn and also shot the man, injuring him, according to police.

Police said the male suspect then shot and killed himself. He has not been identified, but police told KRIV he is a man in his 30s or 40s.

“Once we left we got through the first gate after we got through the first gate that’s when I heard the gunshots,” said Christian Valasquez, who told KPRC he was in the leasing office with his family when the situation began. “It was like three or four maybe — I couldn’t remember I was just so in a rush to get my wife and my son out of there.”

A motive for the shooting is unclear.

Blackburn, a grandmother to four girls, was a breast cancer survivor who was 11 days away from turning 57, KTRK reported, citing family members.

She had managed apartment properties for 30 years, family members told KHOU.

This story was originally published February 14, 2024 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Leasing manager who survived cancer killed in apartment murder-suicide, TX reports say."