Mother blames unyielding stress on shootings
Jason
Mother blames unyielding stress on shootings
What `set her over the edge' mystery
By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle
Linda Carr told officers the unbearable stress of her life reached a
breaking point Thursday, the day she bought a pistol at a northwest
Harris County sporting goods store and went home and killed her daughter
and wounded her son.
But exactly what caused such a sudden breakdown in the deeply religious
41-year-old substitute teacher from the quiet suburbs remains somewhat
of a mystery.
Some neighbors hinted Friday that Carr's action may be related to her
dissatisfaction with being a part-time teacher at $60 a day. But many
said they are completely baffled.
"She was always nice and she's a real good Christian," said Daniel
Rocha, 13, a neighbor and friend of Carr's son, Justin. "I never heard
her yell, or anything like that. I didn't think she could shoot anyone.
I didn't even know she had a gun.
"She was just an average American except that she was a single parent."
Carr told officers she originally planned to take her own life after
shooting daughter Aubrey, 15, and Justin, 13. But she apparently changed
her mind, calling a friend for help after shooting her children.
The unidentified friend called a constable's office, and then Carr
called 911. Late Thursday night, a "remorseful and cooperative" Carr
confessed to the shootings, said sheriff's Capt. Dick Henderson.
Even officers who interviewed Carr say they don't understand why she
snapped.
"The best we can come up with, according to her statement, is that she
has been under an immense amount of stress probably for the last five to
10 years and reached a breaking point Thursday," said Henderson.
"But there was no one thing we could determine that set her over the
edge."
Officers said Carr has no history of mental illness, nor did her
breakdown appear related to her divorce from her husband, Ted, a
correctional officer in Colorado.
He had planned to arrive here Friday to see his wounded son, listed in
fair condition in Ben Taub Hospital Friday night. A prayer vigil was
held Friday night for Aubrey Carr at Lakewood United Methodist Church.
Linda Carr is being held on $200,000 bail each on a murder charge and
one count of aggravated assault.
Law enforcement officers said the circumstances of the case surprised
them.
"In my 20 something years in police work, I have seen many infants
murdered by their parents, but this is the first one that comes to mind
where an older child has been murdered by a parent," Henderson said.
Sheriff's deputies say Carr purchased the 9mm pistol Thursday morning at
an Oshman's Sporting Goods store near Willowbrook Mall, hours before the
5 p.m. shooting.
Bill Cory, an Oshman's manager, said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms told him not to comment on the case, even to confirm whether
the gun was purchased there.
A change in federal law in December 1998 made it possible to purchase
handguns instantly, instead of waiting five days, said sheriff's Sgt.
Bob Black.
Some states have implemented their own laws requiring a waiting period,
but Texas does not have any such law.
Neighbors say Carr's parents bought the house in the pine-shaded
northwest Harris County neighborhood about a decade ago. Carr, her
parents and her two children lived there until a few years ago, when
Carr's mother died, said a neighbor.
Her father remarried and moved away, leaving Carr and her children in
the $97,000 home.
"She was a nice lady," said the neighbor, who requested anonymity. "We
knew them about seven years, and we couldn't see any indication that
this was coming.
"She didn't seem to have any stress, except being a single parent."
Carr's children were described as good students very involved in their
schools.
Aubrey was a sophomore at Tomball High School, where she was in the
choir. A "THS Choir" sign stands in the Carrs' well-kept front lawn.
Justin is enrolled across the street at Tomball Junior High.
"Justin is just a normal, well-behaved kid," said one neighbor who has a
son about the same age. "He wants to ride his bike and play video
games."
Some neighbors asked that their names not be used because of a spate of
anonymous calls Friday to other neighbors.
Counselors were made available Friday to students at Tomball High.
At Tomball Junior High, students gathered in the lunchroom to sign a
giant poster directed to Justin.
"It was really neat," said Linda Allen, a parent volunteer at the
school. "It was an outpouring of love."
Allen said the students wrote things like "get well soon" and "please
try to forgive your mother."
Linda Carr began working as a substitute teacher in the Tomball school
district last September, said Lee Weeditz, assistant director of
personnel. She last worked as a substitute Monday at Tomball Junior
High.
Rocha said he saw her in the halls and that she smiled and said hello.
He didn't notice anything wrong, he said.
A beginning substitute teacher in Tomball earns $60 per day with no
benefits, Weeditz said. Work is available based partly on seniority, so
a typical beginner like Carr has somewhat infrequent working days.
Carr had applied for a full-time job at Tomball ISD, and had fulfilled
some of the training requirements, including studying for a
certification test, Weeditz said. But she had not yet passed the exam
required for state certification of teachers.
Some neighbors have said Carr learned Thursday that she had failed the
state teacher-certification exam. But neither state certification
officials in Austin nor the school district could confirm that report
Friday.
Parents picking up their youngsters from the junior high Friday
expressed shock and remorse at the shootings. Some said they were
particularly surprised to learn that Carr might have been teaching in
their children's classroom three days earlier.
"It's scary, especially because they say she was depressed, and she was
teaching at the same time," said Pam Wehmeyer, the mother of a student
in the junior high.
But school officials say they observed no outward indication Carr might
have been unstable.
"We make every attempt to hire the best people," Weeditz said. "However,
we don't have any way of measuring someone's mental state."