Sep 29, 2008 6:06 pm US/Eastern
Web Site Announced High-Rise Murder-Suicide
Police Say Couple Was Facing Financial Difficulties
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Christian Mogensen and Sharon Glassman in their wedding photo from their web site.
WBZ
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The victims were found on the 20th floor of the Charles River Park Apartments.
WBZ
The Boston man who apparently killed his wife then turned the gun on himself in a high-rise apartment building late Sunday night was allegedly facing possible eviction, police said.
The couple's Web site was updated to reflect their deaths before the shootings were over.
Christian Mogensen, 61, called 911 from a 20th floor apartment in the
Charles River Park complex near Massachusetts General Hospital just after 9 p.m. to say he'd killed his wife, Sharon Glassman, 61, and would shoot himself and officers if they entered his apartment. "I heard what either sounded like a gunshot, or a car accident," said neighbor Vanessa Henke. "But I saw everyone looking up around my apartment."
Police say when officers went in just after midnight they found two bodies. A security camera inside the building actually captured on closed circuit television images of the SWAT team responding to the shooting – images that everyone could see. "As soon as I saw police officers run up the driveway, I turned on my closed circuit television…. I saw the SWAT team arrive," said Jodie Grossman. "I saw the bomb unit, but I could be wrong. It looked like somebody was dressed in protective gear with a helmet on."
Neighbors say the couple seemed like they looked happy, but a police source tells WBZ that the couple was under financial pressure and was facing possible eviction.
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Web site registered to Glassman was updated just before 9 p.m. to show the couple's 1996 wedding picture and dates of their births and deaths. The site was originally used as a profile of Mogensen and his technology services.
Glassman was an administrative assistant in the Trauma and Burn Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"Sharon was a vibrant and beloved member of our community - we offer our support and our prayers and extend our sympathies to her family and friends," the hospital said in a statement Monday afternoon.
Part of the building was evacuated during the standoff.
Some residents saw armed officers enter the complex on a closed-circuit security camera.
"We could actually see the police moving around the lobby," resident Michael Moylan told WBZ. "My roommate actually made a call to the police to turn it off because the guy could probably see it."
Officers covered the camera around 11 p.m.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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