By Bill Schackner
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FOLLANSBEE, W.Va.- State and local police last night were trying to determine what sparked a rampage that left two people dead, a third civilian and a state trooper injured and a house in smoky ruins.
The names of the dead and injured had not been released, but police believe the two people who died were a man and his estranged wife. The injured person, a man believed to be in his 70s, may be the woman’s father. He was flown 35 miles east to Pittsburgh’s UPMC Presbyterian, where officials said they could release no information on his identity or condition.
Police learned of trouble at a house on Bruin Drive in Follansbee about 11:30 a.m. yesterday, when a woman called 911 to report a domestic disturbance and that shots had been fired.
State police Lt. Col. Steve Tucker said the woman who died had gone to the house with her parents to collect some belongings. He said that when the shooting began, the mother escaped and called police.
State troopers and officers from the Brooke County sheriff’s department sped to the scene.
“Upon arrival, we were told by a witness that it was possible that two people were shot at the residence,’' said Chief Deputy Sheriff Chuck Jackson.
“As officers approached the residence, shots came from a window toward the officers.”
Deputy Jackson’s statements last night didn’t quite describe the terror and confusion at the scene -- he was one of the officers, along with state Trooper Blaine Henderson, who were the targets of the gunman.
They found cover behind another house and some trees and tried to set up a line of defense. But a second shot boomed out, striking Trooper Henderson, 31, in the left shoulder.
Also at the scene by now was Brooke County Sheriff Richard Ferguson, who pulled his gun and returned fire.
He shot twice, trying to give other officers time to pull Trooper Henderson out of the line of fire. Medics treated the trooper’s minor wound, then he returned to duty to help secure the area until more police arrived, Deputy Jackson said. Later, the trooper was treated at Weirton Medical Center, about six miles north, and released.
As more officers arrived, they spotted two people -- the woman and the elderly man -- lying in the back yard of the house, both wounded.
As some officers set up a defensive perimeter, others ran into the yard and pulled the two people behind cover, Deputy Jackson said, but the woman died.
It was unclear how the gunman died, but authorities found his body after hearing what they thought was a gunshot from inside the house, then noticed smoke and fire.
“Our belief is he intentionally set a fire in the home,” Lt. Col. Tucker said.
Investigators initially thought the shooter had escaped into the woods about a mile from a high school, prompting officials to lock down the county’s 10 schools as a precaution.
Police wouldn’t reveal whether they had been called to the address before, saying only that the morning call marked the first time they were summoned there yesterday.
Autopsies are scheduled for this morning at the state medical examiner’s office in Charleston, said First Sgt. Reginald Patterson, district commander with the West Virginia State Police. Authorities last night said they would not confirm any of the victims’ identities until those autopsies are completed.
By dusk, fire crews had finished dousing the smoldering remains of the brick ranch style home. State police crime scene investigators and the fire marshal will be examining the charred house for clues.
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.