Dallas planner describes firm's terror during shooting of two reps

Registered representative and financial planner Bill Carter was sitting in his office with two clients Monday morning when he noticed the sound of ambulance sirens drawing closer. Two police cars quickly joined the ambulances in the parking lot, and soon a disturbing announcement came over the building's public-address system: Everyone needed to stay in their office, lock the doors and hunker down until further notice. Mr. Carter, huddled with Carter Financial Management employees and clients in the firm's library, realized from news reports on TV and radio that two brokers, Richard Smith and his son, Christopher, had been shot on the building's third floor, and authorities were afraid that the gunman was on the loose. Mr. Carter didn't hear the shots fired by Robert Mustard, a client of the Smiths, but he and his firm certainly felt their reverberations. “My people were scared to death,” he said, adding that he doesn't know the Smiths. Police eventually cornered Mr. Mustard, 60, who shot himself in the head, according to news reports. He died two days later. Authorities said they believe that Mr. Mustard was upset about investments or financial dealings, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Jim Anderson, a compliance officer with WFG Investments Inc., the independent broker-dealer with which the Smiths are affiliated, said Wednesday that both brokers were recovering. Richard Smith was in stable condition, Mr. Anderson said, and the condition of son Christopher was more guarded. Before joining WFG Investments in 1999, both father and son worked in Dallas for the former investment firm PaineWebber Inc. Their branch manager was Larry Tate, who is now director of business development with SWS Financial Services Inc. in Colleyville, Texas. He said that Mr. Mustard was a longtime client of the Smiths. “He'd been a client when they worked for me,” Mr. Tate said. “My only surprise in the whole thing is, the Smiths didn't shoot back.” Mr. Mustard was a former Dallas assistant city attorney who had been disbarred, Mr. Tate said. According to the Dallas Morning News, Mr. Mustard was arrested on bribery charges after he was photographed offering money to Dallas officials in ex¬change for security codes to the city's municipal court computers. He was convicted and served slightly less than a year in prison, the paper said. Mr. Mustard apparently rode his bicycle to the shooting, said Shirley O'Rear, a receptionist with Lee Financial Corp., a planning and advisory firm on the 15th floor of the building where the shooting occurred. The bike “was still out front, chained to a tree” Wednesday morning, she said, before the police later took it away. To read the full story, please see the Monday, March 15 issue of InvestmentNews