Breaking: Gunman at Johnson Space Center? (UPDATE: 2 CONFIRMED DEAD, INCLUDING SHOOTER)

Just got the email alert via MSNBC:

A building at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston was evacuated Friday amid reports that an armed person was spotted there, the space agency said.

NASA security personnel as well as Houston police responded to “a report about a person with a weapon” at Building 44 on the space center’s campus, agency spokeswoman Lynette Madison told MSNBC.com. She said that personnel were evacuated from the building, and that the situation was “ongoing.” SWAT teams were surrounding the building.

KPRC, Houston’s NBC affiliate, quoted authorities as saying a gunman was reportedly barricaded in a second-floor office. However, police told NBC that they could not yet confirm that a gunman was inside.

As Drudge would say, developing …

Update: Bad news:

A gunman who took two hostages inside building 44 at JSC killed one of them, then took his own life Friday afternoon.

A second hostage, who woman who had been bound with tape, was rescued.

HPD hostage negotiators were trying to establish communication just after 5 p.m. when they heard the gunshot. They found the gunman dead inside one of the rooms.

“Also on the same floor there was one other hostage that was shot. We believe that may have occurred during the early minutes of this ordeal,” said HPD Capt. Dwayne Ready.

The gunman and his victim’s name have not been released.

Jacobs Engineering, a NASA contractor, confirmed that the gunman is one of its employees. He is described as a white male in his 50s or 60s who was armed with a handgun.

There were unconfirmed reports that the man was going to be fired on Friday.

A source inside JSC told 11 News that a meeting was under way in a conference room when the gunman walked in and pointed a gun at one person. He ordered everyone else out.