deadmonton 2007 - stephen ferguson
Stephen Ferguson, 44, was shot to death on February 26th, 2007.
Ferguson was Edmonton's eighth homicide victim of the year.
Michael John Cairney, 48, was charged with second-degree murder. Police said further firearm-related charges may be considered.
Officers arrived at the Laurier Manor four-storey walkup at 12015 103 Avenue at about 6:00 p.m. on February 26th, 2007 after reports of a gunshot blast and a man found bleeding in a stairwell came in.
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A 44-year-old man was removed from the building by police Tactical Team members. He was taken in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the Royal Alexandra Hospital where he died a short time later (some media reports indicated he died enroute).
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A 48-year-old man held police at bay while holed up in a fourth floor suite. He was believed to be alone and armed with a shotgun.
Police requested a media blackout on the shot man's condition as they negotiated with the shooter by telephone overnight.
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Police set up a command post and diverted traffic around the area. They instructed tenants in the building to stay in their suites until further notice.
Apartments below and on either side of the suspect’s suite were evacuated, and tenants were not allowed to enter or exit the building during the incident.
"We're not allowed to go in the hallway," one resident said as events were unfolding. "The police are all over the hallways."
By 7:35 a.m. the next morning the man gave up his weapon and surrendered to police.
A spokesman did not confirm if the two men were related but said they were known to each other.
Insp. Dan Jones summed up the event for media cameras.
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"What we had here we had a very depressed, very suicidal individual and throughout the course of the evening we knew that there was some mental capacity there – he was going up and coming down."
"The best course of action for us was: let's get him to Alberta Hospital, get him assessed and see exactly what it is we're dealing with."
"The fourteen hour standoff probably could have very easily ended in a disaster. It could have ended a lot worse than it did end."
"One particular hostage negotiator developed a bond that was required and he was able to talk him out."
"[Police] members put all their professional pride on the line and it took a lot of effort and a lot of self-control and a lot of patience to deal with this individual through the fourteen hours of negotiations."
"It worked out in our favour thankfully and that was the outcome we were hoping for."
Initial police statements indicated Michael Cairney was of no fixed address and didn't explain his presence in the suite.
Police said they believe the shooting occurred in the stairwell. An autopsy on Ferguson's body was set for March 1st, 2007.
Police said further investigation and interviews would determine the next steps and the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
A first court appearance for Cairney was not scheduled.
Little was published about Stephen Ferguson.
The Edmonton Sun spoke to the apartment building manager, Pam.
She told the Sun a boyfriend and girlfriend lived together in Suite 401, where Cairney allegedly barricaded himself after the shooting.
Pam said a woman named Fran lived in the apartment and Ferguson was Fran's boyfriend.
Ferguson was "a very very sweet person, a wonderful person. I don't think he would have started anything. And Fran is a nice girl – they were good tenants," said Pam, adding she believed Ferguson was a pipefitter.
"She's a nice lady," said a fourth-floor resident of Fran. "She comes over sometimes to borrow things. I think she moved in maybe a year ago, or maybe less."
The incident occured in a building that tenants said was usually very quiet. There were no previous problems at the suite until mayhem erupted at the supper hour.
Third-floor resident Lauren Thomson said she opened her door after hearing a blast. She immediately called 911.
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"And I heard the shotgun – didn't know it was a shotgun – and I left my apartment to go see what was happening to the woman who was at the end of the hallway screaming."
"I had the phone in my hand and called the police and then went to see what was happening."
"There was a woman at the end of the hallway screaming that she needed an ambulance and that her husband had shot her cousin."
"There was a man laying in the stairwell bleeding 'cause he'd been shot. He couldn't get up and there was a lot of blood on the carpet as well as his clothing."
"He was saying: 'I'm dying! I'm dying!' "
"So then the police officers – we came down to let them in the building – and they told us to come out here."
The Edmonton Journal spoke to another woman who lived on the third floor. She said she heard a pop in the hallway and looked out. A neighbour told her someone had been hit.
Going to a staircase, she saw Ferguson on the landing, bleeding from the torso. There was another woman from the building (likely the man's cousin) who was trying to help him.
She told the Journal she heard Ferguson say it was painful to lay on his side, but the woman who was caring for him wouldn't let him roll onto his back.
"Every time he laid back he started making these gurgling sounds," said the resident. "I gave the woman a little towel, because she was just pressing on his chest with her bare hands."
Thomson, who came to Edmonton from Calgary, said she was having second thoughts about her recent move.
"It's a quiet neighbourhood," she said. "I feel like it's an isolated incident, but I'm pretty nervous and we're probably going to move."
Global Edmonton interviewed two tenants, one who seemed surprised at the outcome of the evening's drama and another offered her own perspective on crime in the city.
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"He wasn't bleeding all that much. It didn't look like he was that badly – is he dead? – I mean – he died?" asked the woman at the door.
"And I'm not gonna move out of here because of this incident because it usually happens when people know each other," the second woman said.
Her assessment was essentially correct. At the time of Ferguson's murder, five of the city's eight victims of homicide knew their assailant.
Police chief Mike Boyd said he had reviewed recent homicide cases and noted that almost all involve people who knew each other.
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"And I think that's one of the things that Edmontonians are concerned about."
"They're concerned about whether or not they can walk around in their city – go to different places – without being victims of homicide."
"And so it's important for me to tell you that these cases, for the most part, involve disputes."
"There seems to be a common dominator here – a lack of respect for human life, an anger management problem. Alcohol is often involved in some of these disputes."
“These are not about stranger on stranger,” he said adding, “They are definitely not random acts of violence."
Boyd noted none of the killings so far in 2007 involved young people.