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VALPARAISO Valparaiso police with guns drawn stand behind a vehicle outside Prudential Executive Group Real Estate, 2612 N. Calumet Ave. Friday morning. Police responded to the building after a call of shots fired inside.

Cops: Gunman with hostages remains inside Valpo real estate office

By Times Staff


VALPARAISO |Police are trying to make contact with a gunman inside a Valparaiso real estate office holding an unknown number of people hostage, officials said.

Dozens of police officers from a host of different agencies are positioned with guns drawn behind cars and buildings outside Prudential Executive Group Real Estate, 2612 N. Calumet Ave. Police and fire crews have the intersection of Calumet Avenue, Roosevelt Road and Vale Park Road closed as a precaution.

FBI agents entered the building just after noon.

According to Valparaiso Police Sgt. Mike Grennes, officers were called to the building just before 10 a.m. for a report of shots fired inside the building. Grennes said those reports had not been confirmed as of noon.

Grennes said police believe they know who the gunman is, but are not releasing his name.

Members of the Porter County SWAT team arrived just before 11 a.m. and were putting on protective gear as a growing group of onlookers gathered behind police lines. By noon, representatives of the FBI, Indiana State Police, Porter County Sheriff's Department, Valparaiso University police and Chesterton Police Department were at the scene assisting.

Two men left the building just before 11:30 a.m. followed by two women. Their connection to the situation is not known.

A representative for Valparaiso Community Schools confirmed Flint Lake Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School are all on a modified lock down in response to the situation. The representative said school officials have been assured the "scene is contained" and that students and staff members are not at risk.

Employees of some nearby businesses were told to evacuate as a precaution while others were told to stay away from windows.

Police are urging people to stay away from the area.

Check back with nwi.com for updates.

[Tim]

The gunman has shot himself - he is now dead.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/...34b38da464.html

By Jeff Burton jeff.burton@nwi.com, (219) 548-4354(77) Comments

VIDEO: Standoff in Valparaiso

VALPARAISO | The man who initiated a tense seven-hour hostage standoff with police died after being found with multiple gunshot wounds.

Roy L. Ferguson, 48, of Texas, suffered two gunshot wounds to the head and one gunshot wound to the body, Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said.

The standoff ended shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, with SWAT team members storming a north side real estate office and Ferguson found shot on the floor.

Valparaiso police Sgt. Mike Grennes said officers were called to the Prudential Executive Group building, 2612 Calumet Ave., just before 10 a.m. for a report of shots fired inside the building.

Grennes said when Valparaiso officers arrived on scene moments later, there was a brief exchange of gunfire between officers and Ferguson, as some hostages exited the gray, two-story structure at one of the city's busiest intersections.

Valparaiso Police Chief Michael Brickner said the standoff apparently stemmed from Ferguson believing he was owed money by an employee, who was reportedly not in the building at the time.

SWAT teams from the Porter County Sheriff's Department and the Portage Police Department descended on the scene, and with an FBI negotiator, and began communicating with Ferguson, Grennes said.

Employees of some nearby businesses were told to evacuate as a precaution while others were told to stay away from windows.

A representative for Valparaiso Community Schools also confirmed Flint Lake Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School were on a modified lockdown in response to the situation.

There were 10 people in the office at the time the incident began, Grennes said, and just before 11:30 a.m., two men and two women were seen leaving the building, none appearing injured. About 12:40 p.m., another woman was seen walking out of the building unharmed.

One of the hostages was taken to Porter hospital, Grennes said, after being struck in the head by Ferguson. Police said it was unknown whether Ferguson struck the person with his hand or his weapon. The injured person was treated and released, Grennes said.

About 1:30 p.m., armed SWAT team members were seen entering the neighboring Urschel Laboratories building and others climbing onto the roof of the Midas auto shop next door.

The final hostages were released shortly after 3:30 p.m., though Ferguson stayed holed up in the building and in communication with FBI negotiators.

At 4:43 p.m., two loud bangs were heard echoing down Calumet Avenue, as an armored SWAT vehicle pulled up to the building and an officer entered through a shattered first-floor window.

Brickner said Ferguson was armed with a handgun and found on the floor with two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to his head.

"We believe he shot himself before we entered," Brickner said.

He was transferred to Porter hospital in critical condition and later died, Grennes said.

Brickner credited SWAT team training with helping the situation end without additional injuries.

"Well, I think in a situation like this, obviously we'd like to have everyone come out safely," Brickner said. "It's unfortunate how this ended."

Times Porter County Editor John Scheibel and staff writers Bob Kasarda and Joyce Russell contributed to this report.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/...e8da00561f.html

By Bob Kasarda and Sarah Tompkins Times Staff Writers(1) CommentsRelated Video
× Law enforcement execute search warrant at gunman's homeSarah Tompkins
The Times' Sarah Tompkins gives you a front-row seat to law enforcement executing a search warrant at Valparaiso gunman Roy Ferguson's property Friday.

Law enforcement execute search warrant at gunman's home
VALPARAISO | Law enforcement searched a rental house owned by a gunman who held police at bay for seven hours Friday.

Officers from the Valparaiso Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, Indiana State Police and the Porter County Bomb Squad swarmed the house, 856 Grove St., about 5 p.m. Friday.

There was no one inside the residence as several neighbors watched agents cut through a screen and enter a window.

Officers searched the property for about an hour and found gunman Roy L. Ferguson's motorcycle in a garage. It is unclear how Ferguson, 48, of Texas, traveled from the residence to the Prudential Executive Group building, 2612 Calumet Ave., where the standoff occurred.

Neighbors said Ferguson had moved to Texas and was renting the property. They said his wife died about four years ago, leaving him a single father.

"I talked to him when I was going to take the kids to school and pick them up," said neighbor Gregg Kovach, adding he thought Ferguson had been in town for a few days. "He was always a pretty nice guy. Didn't seem threatening or anything."

A man and a woman who appeared to be family showed up at the house distraught and spoke with law enforcement. They declined to comment.

Duane Davison said he met Ferguson about a week and a half ago when Ferguson was working on the house.

"He said he lives in Houston, Texas, and was up to change out the house," Davison said.

A family that had been living in the house moved out at the start of the month, neighbor Kimberly Collins said.

Davison said Ferguson told him he planned to be in the area for a week.

"He gave no indication anything was up," Davison said.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/...23d2a5e9af.html

Valpo woman comes face to face with gunman
By Bob Kasarda bob.kasarda@nwi.com, (219) 548-4345(3) CommentsVALPARAISO | Carolyn Biesen said she heard a commotion just outside her office at the Prudential Executive Group Real Estate building Friday morning and stepped out to find a man standing over an injured female co-worker.

Biesen, who works as the office controller, said she ordered the man, Roy L. Ferguson, 48, of Texas, to leave and he pulled out a handgun.

"He did not point it at me," she said. "He pointed it up, showing us he had a gun."

Biesen said she heard Ferguson fire two shots after she fled back to her office and later heard a series of shots believed to have been fired by police.

Ferguson had visited the business Thursday looking for a real estate agent, whom Ferguson said owed him money, she said.

Biesen was among 10 people in the building when the incident began. While making it out early and unharmed, she decided to stick around Friday afternoon and watch the events unfold.

"I don't want to leave until my co-workers are out," Biesen said from the scene.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/article_a4fb5a6d-e...193b5fb00e.html

Fiancee says Valpo gunman was a loving man, a former hero

Former Valparaiso resident Roy L. Ferguson, 48, left, was stinging over a financial betrayal, said his fiancee, Dawn Brim, when he returned to the city recently to prepare his old home for new renters. Armed with a gun, Ferguson held employees of a Valparaiso realty office hostage for hours Friday before suffering three gunshot wounds and later dying, authorities said.

13 hours ago • by Bill Dolan bill.dolan@nwi.com, (219) 662-5328(31) CommentsVALPARAISO | A man who took hostages in a realty office Friday and held police at bay for hours before dying was reportedly a loving father, rich in friends and hailed as a hero seven years ago.

But Roy L. Ferguson, 48, also was stinging over a financial betrayal, said his fiancee, Dawn Brim.

"He was owed a significant amount of money by a gentleman in Valparaiso. I don't know that for sure, but I'm assuming that individual worked at the Prudential building, and that's why he went there," said Brim, of Fulshear, Texas. She spoke about Ferguson on Saturday while en route to Valparaiso from her suburban Houston home in the aftermath of Friday's explosion of violence.

The hostage situation began about 10 a.m. as police were called to the Prudential Executive Group building, 2612 N. Calumet Ave. Accountant Carolyn Biesen told authorities Friday she had found Ferguson standing over an injured co-worker on the ground and brandishing a handgun.

Prudential employees were recovering Saturday from the emotional toll of the seven-hour ordeal, a company spokesman said, while Indiana State Police were investigating the standoff and its bloody conclusion.

Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said Saturday Ferguson likely suffered three gunshot wounds from two different weapons. That comes one day after Valparaiso Police Chief Michael Brickner said officers believe Ferguson shot himself twice in the head before SWAT members stormed the building after the hostages were freed.

"There were three gunshot wounds to the body," Harris said Saturday afternoon. "Two to the head area and one to the upper right quadrant in the chest area. It's highly likely that there were two different guns causing three different wounds."

Harris declined to draw any further conclusion until after an autopsy, which may not take place until after the Memorial Day weekend.

"I will be talking shortly with the Indiana State Police," he said.

Brim said she and Ferguson's many friends will remember him as a different man.

"He was kind, sweet," she said. "He loved fishing. He pulled a man out of a burning building."

The Times reported in August 2005 that Ferguson, who was living on Valparaiso's west side at the time — less than three miles from the Prudential office — was awakened in the early morning hours by the neighbors' screams. Retired school teacher Joseph Joyce and his daughter and son were trapped in their burning house.

While others helped, Ferguson entered the smoke-filled house through a window and helped Joyce escape.

Brim said Ferguson had suffered a series of setbacks in his life. His wife died several years ago, leaving him to raise three children. A construction injury left him in constant pain and often unable to work, she said.

She said she met Ferguson through their daughters' basketball games. They had been living in Texas. Ferguson had rented out his old home on Valparaiso's west side and returned to it days ago to prepare it for new tenants.

"I talked to him Thursday night. He told me he couldn't wait to get back home to the kids," she said.

She said she doesn't understand what triggered Friday's tragedy, but she is sure Ferguson had no grudge against Prudential or complaints over any real estate matters.

But she is certain he was upset about a debt he was owed by a man who worked at the Prudential office, she said.

"I know the gentleman owed him the money. I've seen the emails. He originally borrowed $15,000 and he paid a little of it back and all of a sudden he stopped paying it back. The last I heard he still owed about $13,000," Brim said.

Police Chief Michael Brickner said Friday the Prudential employee Ferguson believed owed him money wasn't in the building at the time the standoff took place.