On April 3, 1995, a mass shooting occurred at the Walter Rossler Co., a refinery inspection company in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. 28-year-old former employee James Simpson (who had quit a year prior), armed with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun & a .32-caliber revolver, killed five people before committing suicide.[1][2][3][4]
As of 2025, it remains the worst mass shooting in the history of Corpus Christi.
Shooting
At approximately 4:15 - 4:30 p.m. CST on April 3, 1995, 28-year-old James Daniel Simpson walked through the front doors of Walter Rossler Co. armed with two handguns (a 9mmRuger semi-automatic pistol and a .32-caliber revolver). There we’re ten people present in the building of which five managed to escape unharmed (two escaped by crawling out the back door of the building).
According to Lisa Rossler-Duff, who was typing in one of the offices, reported seeing Simpson first go to Wendy Gilmore's office; once there, she heard James say "this is for you, bitch" and then fired two or three shots, killing her. Shortly after shooting Gilmore, Simpson then walked across the small hallway and began shooting at both Walter & Joann Rossler as well as employees Derek Harrison and Richard Tomlinson.
After seeing her father Walter fall to the floor, Lisa took cover under a table with her eight-month-old son and called 911. While she was on the phone, Simpson entered her office; Lisa, who thought she had locked the door, yelled "no!" as her son cried, and Simpson left the office without harming them.
Shortly after leaving Lisa's office, Simpson left the building through the back door and shot himself in the head; he was pronounced dead at the hospital about an hour later, along with one of the victims. The bodies of the other four remained at the crime scene for several hours; soon, dozens of people began to gather, including several relatives of the victims, some of whom needed to lie on stretchers due to shock.[5]
James Daniel Simpson (February 16, 1967 - April 3, 1995) was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Not much is known about his early life, but he was living in Corpus Christi at the time of the shooting.
Approximately 7 months before the shooting, in September 1994, Simpson abruptly left his job as a metalworker at Walter Rossler Co. after working at the company for about a year; this was probably due to him suffering from paranoia and depression at the time. Simpson was angry at the company for being assigned an assignment he did not want; according to Rhonda Rossler-Fowler, Walter and Joann's daughter, Simpson wanted to work exclusively in metallurgy and was reluctant to take on new assignments, including inspection duties. Soon afterwards, Walter Rossler had both Harrison and Tomlinson go to his house to try and convince Simpson to come back to the company; however, despite these attempts, he refused. The company also subsequently attempted to get James to repay money he had been loaned for educational purposes.[5]
Aftermath
News of the workplace shooting received very little media coverage and was virtually overshadowed by the murder, three days earlier, of singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, whose funeral was held on the same day as of the shooting.[7]
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