Theodore Decker, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Copyright 2006 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved
Gregery F. Wilson called 911 at 3:28 p.m. Sunday, saying that the police knocking on his East Side apartment door weren’t real officers.
Within two minutes of that call, Columbus police said, he shot one of them.
A protective vest saved Officer Jane Bogenschutz from serious injuries, and she was recovering at home yesterday.
Police said Bogenschutz, 36, was bruised from the impact of the bullet that struck her vest but was otherwise unscathed. The five-year veteran was given time off and will undergo counseling, said Sgt. Michael Woods, a police spokesman.
The outcome drove home the value of vests, Woods said.
“I can think of three officers off the top of my head who sustained gunshots and were saved by wearing their vests,” he said.
Wilson, 45, of 4225 Macsway Ave., is recovering from a gunshot wound to the arm inflicted when officers returned fire, police said. He is under police guard at Grant Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition. He was charged with felonious assault.
Police were called to Eastland Manor, a complex that serves senior citizens and the disabled, about 3:10 p.m. Sunday.
“I was coming up here to see my mom and I got on the elevator with this guy and he had, he pulled a gun on me,” said the first caller to 911, according to a tape released by police.
The man directed police to apartment 419 and described the gunman to them. As officers stood outside Wilson’s door and asked to speak with him, Wilson dialed 911.
“Uh, some idiot with no police ID is banging on my door, and he says he’s going to incinerate my apartment,” Wilson told the dispatcher, according to a 911 tape. “He’s no damn police officer.”
“OK, Gregery did you pull a gun on someone?” the dispatcher asked.
“No I did not.”
“OK, they’re real police officers, open the door for them.”
His voice rising, Wilson called the officers “fake.”
“They’re not fake, they’re real officers, go talk to them,” the dispatcher replied.
Wilson did not respond, and the call ended. Then another resident reported the shooting.
“They kept hollering for him to come out and he wouldn’t come out,” the caller said. “It took him five minutes and then he came out shooting.”
Police said Wilson opened the door, shot Bogenschutz and retreated inside. Three officers, who police did not identify, returned fire.
It was unclear where Wilson got a gun. Records show he does not have a concealed-carry permit.
A 71-year-old neighbor, who asked not to be identified for her safety, said Wilson had few friends and various health problems. She said he never caused trouble until the past few weeks, after he returned from a long absence.
“When he came back he was definitely different,” she said. “He just started raging in his apartment.”
Neighbors complained about Wilson blasting music at odd hours, hammering on things and banging on the walls, she said.
“We knew that he was about to blow,” she said.
The complaints led management to call a mental-health agency, who sent an employee to Wilson’s apartment on Friday. The neighbor said the worker “knocked and knocked” but never got an answer.