10 Dec 2011
Posted by Miss Kissy 
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Laredo, Texas - Rachelle Grimmer, a 38-year-old Texas woman shot and killed her two children and then killed herself after she was refused food stamps.
According to police, Grimmer shot her two children – a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl – before turning the gun on herself inside a Texas Health and Human Services Office on Monday.
The little girl posted updates to her facebook account during the 7 hour standoff.
At around 7.50 p.m., Ramie changed the “employer” section of her Facebook account to “may die 2day.” Later at 10:34 p.m., Ramie posted, “im bored,” and then 18 minutes later, “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhahhhhhhhh.”
The little girl’s final post was 11:28 p.m., and read “tear gas seriasly,” which is thought to reference the SWAT team that had surrounded the building attempting to restrain her mom.
Investigators say the woman was distraught after she applied for food stamps, but was rejected from the program because she failed to turn in the adequate paperwork.
“We were still waiting (for the information),” said DHHS spokesperson, Stephanie Goodman. “And if we had that, I don’t know if she would still qualify or not.”
Investigators say the woman entered the DHHS office in Laredo on Monday and asked to speak with a different caseworker than the one she had been assigned. Grimmer was then taken to a private room to discuss her case. That’s when she reportedly pulled out a gun and began what would eventually become a 7-hour stand-off with police.
Police negotiators called and pleaded with Grimmer throughout the course of the standoff, however Grimmer allegedly kept hanging up on them.
On at least one occasion, Grimmer voiced a list of grievances that she had regarding various stated and federal agencies. She also reportedly told investigators that she was owed restitution of some kind.
After the woman hung up on officers at about 11:45 p.m., police heard a series of gunshots. Officers rushed inside the building to find Grimmer’s body and two children who had also been shot. The children were alive but unconscious when they were rushed to a nearby hospital.
Officials say Grimmer initially applied for food stamps in July, but missed the standard interview in which state workers normally assess an applicant’s case. Grimmer reportedly never called back to reschedule the appointment. The case was closed in August for inactivity.
Three month’s later, Grimmer contacted the agency again to demand a review of how her case was handled. When an agency supervisor called Grimmer’s cell phone last Thursday, no one answered and the voicemail box was full.
BACKSTORY VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:
Rachelle Grimmer and her children would walk down the highway after midnight and beg closing crews at restaurants for food they planned to throw away.
Her children, 12-year-old Ramie and 10-year-old Timothy, didn’t go to school. They bathed outside the family’s trailer with the garden hose. Timothy wore the same camouflage shorts day after day.
Grimmer didn’t have a job, and the state had denied the family food stamps and emergency help despite repeated requests. Tragic shootings sometimes come without warning, but interviews with family members and neighbors show there were many signs of frustration before Grimmer entered a state welfare building with a .38-caliber handgun earlier this week and shot herself and her children after a seven-hour standoff.
Ramie died Wednesday night at a San Antonio hospital; her brother was taken off life support Thursday and died. They led a miserable, nomadic life leading up to the standoff – which Ramie live-updated on Facebook with an eerie mix of detachment (“im bored”) and dread (“may die 2day”).
The children’s father, Dale Grimmer, had tried three times since his divorce about six years ago to have them removed from his ex-wife’s custody while they were living in Montana and Ohio, said his mother, Mary Lee Shepherd. She claimed her daughter-in-law had a history of mental illness that authorities ignored.
But Grimmer’s friends disputed that, and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services had no calls about the family in its records, agency spokesman Jon Ebelt said. Ohio officials would not provide information about the family without an open records request, which can take weeks or even months to process.
Oscar Cuerrlar, a carpenter and neighbor in the Laredo trailer park where they moved in the spring, said he brought the family grilled fish and chicken after Grimmer’s request for food stamps was denied; the only cooking surface in the RV was an electric skillet. He rejected the idea that Grimmer was mentally ill.
“Why is the mother-in-law saying that? That she suffered from mental problems? The woman spoke well with everyone,” Cuerrlar said.
And yet, the family was clearly in dire straits even by the standards of Webb County, where the per capita income of $13,600 is among the lowest in the nation. By most accounts, Grimmer didn’t come close to scrapping together near that much money.
At the Towne North Mobile Home and RV Park in Laredo, she paid $400 a month to dock her ragged RV, which has a wide crack in the outer wall filled by a scrunched child’s bed sheet. The refrigerator was outside. Manager Janie Rodriguez’s office was next to Grimmer’s lot, and the two became close.
Grimmer didn’t have a job, though Rodriguez said she sometimes made decorative pillows to sell. She suspected Grimmer paid her rent with child support checks. State records show the mother filed paperwork to open a business in April called “ShellRamieTim” but there’s no indication of what she planned to sell.
Cuerrlar said she sold her red Ford truck to a scrapyard for $400 for food. When that ran out, she resorted to begging at restaurants.
Yet their ragged RV may have been a step up. A state child welfare worker checked on the family in July 2010 after receiving a report they were staying in tent on a Texas beach. Grimmer showed the investigator she had food and money and proved the children were being home-schooled. The Grimmers stayed in the tent and the case was closed.
Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said he could not speak in detail about the incident or why investigators didn’t act on a family potentially living on a beach.
Poverty isn’t always a reason for removing children from a home, said Katherine Kerr, spokeswoman for the nonprofit Texas Court Appointed Special Advocates.
“I’m guessing at the time it wasn’t cold,” Kerr said. “They had food. The mother was able to demonstrate she could get more food. The basics – food, clothing and shelter – can be covered in a way you and I might not feel comfortable with.”
In July, Grimmer applied to join 3.7 million other Texans receiving food stamps. The state rejected her application month later because she never submitted proof of income, such as documentation of how much child support she received, said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.
Grimmer also was denied emergency benefits because she reported that her child support was greater than her monthly expenses for rent and utilities, Goodman said. On Aug. 8, the state closed the family’s file, and three months passed before caseworkers heard from her again.
Rodriguez said Grimmer vented often about being denied food stamps.
In mid-November, she asked the state to review her food stamp application again. It was rejected once more, but Grimmer never knew that. An agency supervisor couldn’t reach her by phone.
What seems clear is that Grimmer became increasingly desperate. When Rodriguez led police inside the home early Tuesday, it looked as if the place had been ransacked. All the cabinets were flung open. The drawers had been pulled out and ransacked. A dirty pail of water in the kitchen caught Rodriguez’s eye.
“Things were falling out of the doors. Blankets were thrown this way and that,” Rodriguez said. “It’s like she was looking for something she couldn’t find.”
On a table, in plain sight, was a box of bullets.
No comment
bet she was a Democrat
What!!!! and double what at the idiotic comment about her political affiliation!!!! Ignorant!
WOW smh ..
This is so sad…the choice she only felt left to her….we got to do better looking out 4 our neighbors.
She could have sold the gun and bought some food. Lol
No one knows what her econonic situation was,only a mother knows what is like to see your kids without food…sad because there is so much help she could have gotten from churches or foodbanks,but may God forgive her…for she didnt seek him for advice,instead of taking that tragic descision…
People are seriously losing it. This economy is destroying lives and it’s not getting any better.
So sad. I wonder how the person who denied her feels.evidently she really needed it. stress Kills!!!
o_O
Who will be officially blamed?
wow
I think this is the 2nd mom that did this. Damn shame
smh…
Just sad….
I Read This A Few Days Ago ~ Very, Very Sad But, She Had Extreme Emotional Issues Too.
she clearly had a mental prob., she didn’t finish the application or submitted what was required and u know the welfare don’t play that.she is responsible! I feel so sorry 4 the kids and her. she definately needed professional help.
i believe she was depressed
i believe she was depressed
i believe she was depressed
i believe she was depressed
I heard about this a few days ago. So sad. The both kids died a day or two later.
I heard about this a few days ago. So sad. The both kids died a day or two later.
I heard about this a few days ago. So sad. The both kids died a day or two later.
I heard about this a few days ago. So sad. The both kids died a day or two later.
It’s sad that people at the bottom of the totem pole only get one chance now in this century. The way this country banks, trades and taxes citizens is failing, and Politicians are to worried about funding their own campaign than not screwing the rest of us over. Republicans and Democrats want to fight over who’s more superior instead of focusing on our key problems. The end result.. a failing system and thousands of unemployed people with no food or a home..
It’s sad that people at the bottom of the totem pole only get one chance now in this century. The way this country banks, trades and taxes citizens is failing, and Politicians are to worried about funding their own campaign than not screwing the rest of us over. Republicans and Democrats want to fight over who’s more superior instead of focusing on our key problems. The end result.. a failing system and thousands of unemployed people with no food or a home..
It’s sad that people at the bottom of the totem pole only get one chance now in this century. The way this country banks, trades and taxes citizens is failing, and Politicians are to worried about funding their own campaign than not screwing the rest of us over. Republicans and Democrats want to fight over who’s more superior instead of focusing on our key problems. The end result.. a failing system and thousands of unemployed people with no food or a home..
It’s sad that people at the bottom of the totem pole only get one chance now in this century. The way this country banks, trades and taxes citizens is failing, and Politicians are to worried about funding their own campaign than not screwing the rest of us over. Republicans and Democrats want to fight over who’s more superior instead of focusing on our key problems. The end result.. a failing system and thousands of unemployed people with no food or a home..
We have too remember to wait on the Lord. It might not come when you won’t it. God is always on time, trust. Amen.,…
We have too remember to wait on the Lord. It might not come when you won’t it. God is always on time, trust. Amen.,…
We have too remember to wait on the Lord. It might not come when you won’t it. God is always on time, trust. Amen.,…
We have too remember to wait on the Lord. It might not come when you won’t it. God is always on time, trust. Amen.,…
Seemed like she tried to get help maybe she didn’t have the education to fill out the papers correctly & know what needed to be done. I put God first but in so tired of these “waiting on the Lord” comments when someone is struggling that much, hungry, and doesn’t know how their kids are gonna eat just idly waiting on the Lord for help doesn’t work & everyone doesn’t believe or have that type of relationship with Him.
How much you want to bet that: The lady in charge of her paperwork…was..1 white and well stocked?
2: Black and ignorant
3:…just an ignorant ass
Saddest part they could of help her fill out the forms correctly..every kid should be able to eat no matter what
That’s so SAD! Gosh broke my hurt!! But Wth does her political affliction have to do with the situation! Ignorance at its best
so sad… these days they can easily look up ur child support income on line… thats how I found out I had $ on my card that had been on there for months. . these caseworkers half ass do they job like they better than everybody. they could have helped her if all she needed was proof of u income..shid when ppl dont tell yu all bout the money ya’ll find a way to find out then say we neglected to tell ya’ll the information.. so aint no way in hell they shouldnt have been able to help her feed her fam…
Omg!
This is just SAD and DEPRESSING! May god rest your souls.
There is NO reason for this to have happened! Somebody should’ve intervened and helped this woman!
There is NO reason for this to have happened! Somebody should’ve intervened and helped this woman!
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS~~~WHY OUR GOVERNMENT KEEP SENDING BILLIONS OF $$ TOO OTHER COUNTRIES, THERE ARE AMERICANS WHO NEED HELP WITHOUT ALL THE RED TAPE, I FIRMLY BELIEVE IF OUR GOVERNMENT TOOK CARE OF AMERICAN FIRST, S*** LIKE THIS WOULDN'T BE GOING ON! IM ALL IN HELPING OTHHERS, BUT YOU GOT TOO ASSURE YOUR HOME(COUNTRY) IS IN ORDER, BEFORE HELPING OTHERS!
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS~~~WHY OUR GOVERNMENT KEEP SENDING BILLIONS OF $$ TOO OTHER COUNTRIES, THERE ARE AMERICANS WHO NEED HELP WITHOUT ALL THE RED TAPE, I FIRMLY BELIEVE IF OUR GOVERNMENT TOOK CARE OF AMERICAN FIRST, S*** LIKE THIS WOULDN’T BE GOING ON! IM ALL IN HELPING OTHHERS, BUT YOU GOT TOO ASSURE YOUR HOME(COUNTRY) IS IN ORDER, BEFORE HELPING OTHERS!
Some of these county offices aint worth shit..
I live in San Antonio and on the news the day after the incident, the agency rep. stated that her case had been closed both times due to not being able to reach her by phone. In this state your intake interview is done by phone not by office visit. I don’t know any more than what was on the news. My opinion, is that if people don’t have money for the basics then they don’t have money for extras like a phone or cable. I think this state uses the phone interview to be able to deny assistance to the very people who need the most help. I feel so very sorry for this family. I believe incidents like this are going to increase as long as our government officials keep trying to figure out how to screw the poor but help the rich.
When Time get hard the PPL will act so different too the time ahead.
You never know what the next person is going through so its important to be patient, kind, loving, and try to be understanding to peoples circumstances then she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.a mother trying to feed her kids.
You never know what the next person is going through so its important to be patient, kind, loving, and try to be understanding to peoples circumstances then she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.a mother trying to feed her kids.
Just Sad!
Just Sad!
I feel lik crying after reading this. She really needed help.
I feel lik crying after reading this. She really needed help.
I'm wondering how was the little girl posting on facebook? That's so hurtful to think of this 12-year-old on facebook saying "may die today"! smh
I’m wondering how was the little girl posting on facebook? That’s so hurtful to think of this 12-year-old on facebook saying “may die today”! smh
Its a sad story, but to be honest, it pisses me off with the mother. A REAL MOTHER would have found a way, ANY WAY, necessary for her kids to eat. If I had to sell every possession I had, or even had to sell my dam self, I woulda found a way for my kids to eat. I've been there before…homeless even with my daughter, but I've always worked SOMETHING out where she had a place to lay her head and something to eat. I was raised poor, so I know how to survive.
Its a sad story, but to be honest, it pisses me off with the mother. A REAL MOTHER would have found a way, ANY WAY, necessary for her kids to eat. If I had to sell every possession I had, or even had to sell my dam self, I woulda found a way for my kids to eat. I’ve been there before…homeless even with my daughter, but I’ve always worked SOMETHING out where she had a place to lay her head and something to eat. I was raised poor, so I know how to survive.
this breaks my heart…
this breaks my heart…
this is such a sad sorry to hear of someone doing this to themselves as well as their children….
This reminds me of the movie ‘At the pursuit of happiness’ played by will smith & his son n based on a true life story. I say this wasn’t the better soln, this mother didnt hav to shoot them all.. if she rly cudnt tak it nomor she didnt hav to shoot d kids too, cus im sure durin d 7-hour standby she made a point n if she finaly shot haself n left d kids alive they wudn hav bin taken care of. Why didnt she giv-up d kids to their dad or sumthin..we cant rly ask why somtimes, cus we dnt kno any better.
This story breaks my hrt,, esp as d kids sensed this day was going to be their last! harder watchi their mom look dem in d face n shoot them to death- their own mother.
May their gentle souls rest in peace