In a modern tale of what may be online dating gone wrong, a Texas woman was traveling for a weekend getaway with a man she had recently met when she was forced to kill the man in an alleged case of self-defense. The incident occurred in the wine country of central Texas.
According to multiple news sources, on Friday, March 15, shortly after noon, Gillespie County 911 received a call from a panicked woman.
“I’ve got a female on the line, she’s quite hysterical. She’s advising that she just shot somebody…She’s been drugged and she’s been kidnapped,” the 911 dispatcher aired to nearby police.
While riding with 49-year-old Lance Damon Reid, the 45-year-old woman told police she had been drugged and the man would not let her go. News reports show she then pulled a Glock 43 and shot the man, who was driving, from the passenger seat. She then jumped from the vehicle, which came to rest in the outside lane of west-bound traffic on the highway, and ran up the driveway of Signor Vineyards screaming for help.
“She said she shot him all over,” a woman says on the 911 tapes. The man and woman were both from the Houston area, but the shooting occurred near Fredericksbug, Texas.
“The two had recently met and were familiar with one another, and were on a planned weekend trip together when this occurred,” the sheriff’s office told KXAN News.
Reid’s father, Barry, told KENS 5 that “his son was an engineer who recently moved to the Houston area for a government job that required a background check and security clearance.”
“It’s just a shocking, (an) unbelievable thing,’ Barry Reid said. “I can’t imagine Lance doing something like that. He certainly doesn’t do drugs, and he’s working with a government clearance, so you don’t get away with that. He wasn’t a violent person. He loved people. He got along with everybody, (was) very sociable.”
According to KHOU News, Reid had recently moved to Texas from California, the article saying, “He’s a married father of two, but his wife stayed behind in California” according to an interview with Reid’s father.
Reid’s wife, Kellee, provided a statement to news outlets, saying: “There is an ongoing and thorough investigation. There is a lot more information to offer. We are confident that the truth will come out and that justice will be served.”
Sheriff Buddy Mills says “at first glance the woman’s account seems credible.” He told news reporters that it does appear she agreed to join Reid on the trip before something apparently unexpected occurred.
“There’s no telling what could have occurred. There’s no real telling,” Mills told KENS 5. “In all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never heard of anything like this occurring here in the county.”
The Gillespie County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case to determine if any charges should be brought forward. At this time, none have been filed.