An autopsy was scheduled late this morning on the Texas man who Valparaiso
Police say fatally shot himself on Friday after holding hostages at a local
real estate office.
Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris identified the man as Roy Ferguson, 48,
of Fulshear, Texas.
Harris called Ferguson an ex-Valparaiso resident who had returned to the
area “for a week” to “fix up an apartment” he owned.
According to the VPD, at 10:05 a.m. Friday officers responded to the
Prudential Executive Group at 2612 N. Calumet Ave. in response to a report
of a male subject’s entering the building with a gun.
“Officers arrived on scene and a brief exchange of gun fire” ensued between
Ferguson and the officers, the VPD said.
A Prudential employee was able to exit the building at that time. She was
treated at Porter hospital for a head injury inflicted by Ferguson—though
not a gunshot wound—and later released, the VPD said. Other hostages were
subsequently released unharmed.
At 4:30 p.m. officers made entry into the building after hearing a gunshot.
They found Ferguson injured with “two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to his
head,” the VPD said.
Ferguson was transported to Porter hospital, where he was later pronounced
dead.
Harris told the Chesterton Tribune today that Ferguson appears to
have sustained three different gunshot wounds, two to the head—one of them
the fatal one—and a third, to the upper right quadrant of the chest.
The incident remains under investigation.
Agencies assisting the VPD at the scene: the Porter County Sheriff’s Police;
Chesterton Police; Portage Police; the Indiana State Police; the FBI; the
Valparaiso Fire Department; and Valparaiso University.
From the Indiana
State Police:
Indiana State
Police Continue To Investigate The Shooting In Valparaiso
Valparaiso-
Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Indiana State Police at the
Lowell Post continues to investigate the shooting that occurred at the
Prudential Real Estate Office in Valparaiso, IN on May 25th, 2012.
The
investigation has revealed that Roy L. Ferguson, 48 years old from
Valparaiso, IN walked into the real estate office and fired several rounds
into the air. A brief exchange of gunfire between Ferguson and police
resulted in Ferguson being injured. Two hostages, a male and female, were
taken by Ferguson. He barricaded himself along with his hostages in a room.
The female was released after she had been injured in the upper part of her
body by Ferguson. The male and a second woman, who was hidden in the room
unbeknownst to Ferguson, were both released through hostage negotiators.
As entry was
made by the Porter County SWAT Team, it appears that Ferguson fired two self
inflicting gunshot wounds to the head. He was transported to Porter Memorial
Hospital in Valparaiso where he succumbed to his injuries.
The autopsy will
be today. Assisting in the investigation were the Valparaiso Police
Department, Porter Police Department, FBI, ATF, Porter County Sheriff’s
Department, Porter County Coroner’s Office and the Porter County
Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation is continuing.
Posted 5/29/2012
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