expected to be in danger when she started the career she wanted. practicing law. why did you want to be a? lawyer and second grade, a judge came to my class and i fell in love with that, i wanted to be a judge or a lawyer. her dream came true. by 2008, shannon had passed the bar exam and got her first job as a prosecutor at the kaufman, at the courthouse at the center of town. i love the office, the people around me were all knowledgeable. one of those lawyers from dallas was mark, a man who did his job. did you know? him yes of course. we would go to him for almost everything. that was because he prosecuted some of the worst criminals in texas. he was an intellectual, he was tenacious, he was quick on his feet. marcus bush is with the
it s almost sounding like a game now. i think in his mind it was a big chess game. i think it was just for fun, to see if he could really exert complete and total control over the criminal justice system in kaufman county. by monday morning the story was topping the national news. perhaps that s exactly what the killer wanted. nbc s gabe gutierrez is in kaufman, texas, for us this morning. gabe, good morning to you. savannah, good morning. there will be stepped up security here at the county courthouse today. the district attorney s office will be closed to the public. this entire community is on high alert. that morning when shannon hebert came to her office, she had an armed escort. there s no leader at your office anymore. there s nothing. no one. when you come into work, how do you go forward? we had to move forward. we couldn t let them win. we couldn t. and we had to fight, and for the honor of mike and mark. everyone in the office was on edge. my husband. i
those are gunshots, so we packed up really quickly and hopped in the car. the car camera was rolling as he and his partner drove toward the gunshots. about halfway over, we got a radio that a man had been shot. 9-1-1? there is a gentleman on grove street and he just got shot. that s just a block away from the courthouse. shannon notice that her secretary was looking at the window at some commotion on the street. my secretary turned around and she was crying. initially i just wanted to comfort her, i can even imagine which was crying about. but when she turned from the window all, she said was its mark. mark hasse, her friend and colleague. my natural instinct was to think that he got hit by a car. but she said no, he was shot. who is? its mark hasse. coming up, get another
until january 31st, 2013, just before 9 am. at that moment, the calm serene morning, and the lives of everyone in the da s office, would be shattered. i heard what i thought to be gunshots. police officer jason were outside of the courthouse, he and his partner were investigating a burglary when something caught is attention. there were still mythical shots it was just, bam, bam, bam, bam. and there was a little pause, i guess you d say. and then three more shots after that. shannon was inside the courthouse when she heard the sound of sirens. that s not unusual because there s a police station just a block away, there s a hospital a few blocks down street. that siren was jason squad car. i called my partner and i said,
be another victim. saturday night, shannon hebert was shopping for easter dinner when she was surprised by phone call from her office. and i thought, who was there on a saturday on easter weekend? but her phone kept ringing. it was another prosecutor from her office. and i knew then at that point that something is going on. and i answered, and she proceeded to tell me that the mclelland s were found in their house, shot. it must have been the biggest shock in your life? it was. it s hard to imagine anyone you know being killed. i was frank tick, it was terrifying. her colleague told her to watch her back. we don t know who s next, we don t know if they re more just get home and be safe. she met, watch out. are you all feeling now that we re targets? we all felt that. including, the people she loved most in the world. i think that s what was so scary, it s not just me anymore,