Joseph Ferguson

Case overview

Joseph Ferguson was a former security guard who committed a 24-hour rampage beginning on September 8, 2001. He killed five people and wounded two others before shooting himself to death on September 10, 2001 after being cornered by authorities in Sacramento.

Timeline

• Sept. 8, 2001 — Joseph Ferguson began a rampage that killed five people and wounded two others over a 24-hour period.
• Sept. 9, 2001 — Sacramento police launched a nationwide manhunt for Joseph Ferguson after he shot and killed three former co-workers and a park employee.
• Sept. 10, 2001 — Joseph Ferguson was found dead inside a stolen car shortly after midnight following a high-speed chase and police shootout; he had wounding a California Highway Patrol officer and a motorist during the pursuit.

Background

Joseph Ferguson worked as a security guard for Burns International Security. He was described as “a disgruntled former security guard” who had been suspended from his job for vandalizing his girlfriend’s car.

Ferguson’s girlfriend was Nina Susu, who was 20 years old and was described as a former girlfriend. Authorities said Ferguson became despondent over breaking up with Susu and over being suspended from his job for vandalizing Susu’s car. Burns officials said Ferguson was suspended after Susu said he vandalized her car after their breakup, and Burns officials also notified the FBI that Ferguson might be dangerous because he made threats after the suspension. An FBI check revealed Ferguson had no history of violence and nothing was done.

In addition to his job and the breakup, authorities and acquaintances described a troubled background. Ferguson’s mother was serving a 14-year jail sentence for molesting him and one other boy, and she was identified as Susan C. Ferguson, who was the manager of a discount clearance center at the time of her arrest. She was in the third year of a 14-year prison sentence and was said to be an inmate at the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla. A third son also reported that his mother had molested him, but the statute of limitations had expired by the time she was charged. Ferguson’s parents were divorced in December 1998, a few months before his mother pleaded no contest to molesting two of her sons, including Joseph, when they were under the age of 14. It was also stated that other charges against the woman were dropped in return for her pleading no contest, and that the family had agreed to a deal because the sons could not take it any longer. Ferguson’s father, Thomas Ferguson, was quoted about the sons learning the same thing had happened to each of them. A third son’s reported molestation was mentioned as well.

Ferguson’s uncle, Ned P. Cullar, said he had expected Ferguson to become “one of those snipers on a rooftop someday.” Cullar also said he got a restraining order against Joseph Ferguson and his father in 1999 because he claimed they were harassing him, but dropped Joseph from the order so his nephew could become a security guard. Cullar said Ferguson changed in the last three to four years and became “hate everybody,” including hating women, and also said Ferguson thought Charles Manson was a good guy and had tapes of Jim Jones. Another neighbor stated that even as kids the Fergusons were militant against people they did not like and called her racist names. The neighbor said the Fergusons had guns and ammunition hidden in the walls of their house.

It was also stated that Ferguson attended John F. Kennedy High School for two years and then was taken out by his father after his junior year to be home schooled.

The offence

Authorities said Ferguson began killing people because he was despondent over getting suspended from his supervisor’s job at Burns Security a week earlier. Ferguson made cell phone calls during the rampage to Burns Security employees, and he threatened to kill more people in Old Sacramento than fellow Sacramento rampager Nikolay Soltys.

During the rampage, Ferguson shot five people. Police said the victims were unarmed and riddled with gunshot wounds. Police also said Ferguson shot a California Highway Patrol officer twice in the arm and critically wounded a motorist nearby.

Ferguson also took a hostage and forced another person to film or tape material. During the rampage, Ferguson handcuffed another guard to a tree and later fled in her car, leaving her unharmed. Later, authorities described that Ferguson took the Popovich couple hostage and barricaded doors and windows inside a home.

Victims

Joseph Ferguson killed:

• George Bernardino, 48, who worked at Burns Security.
• Marsha Jackson, 32, who was described as a single mother of three.
• Nina Susu, 20, who was described as Ferguson’s former girlfriend.
• Nikolay Popovich, who was taken hostage and later killed; authorities said Ferguson forced Nikolay Popovich’s family hostage in their home for several hours Sunday before binding and gagging Nikolay Popovich and shooting him once in the back of the head. Popovich would have turned 30 next Tuesday.
• John Derek Glimstad, 19, who was a Miller Park marina employee and had recently started the night shift there so he could take a morning tennis class.

Authorities said Ferguson was suspected of killing:

• three on-duty co-workers from Burns Security, including a former girlfriend, and
• a 19-year-old bystander.

Investigation

Police said Ferguson was heavily armed and possibly wearing a bulletproof vest during the rampage. Police found AK-47 rounds, shotgun rounds, and 9 mm handgun shells at the crime scenes. Police found a handgun at the first shooting scene and recovered an assault weapon at the marina.

Police found a cache of weapons at the south Sacramento house where Ferguson had been living with his father and brother. Authorities said the cache included two shotguns, two assault rifles, two revolvers, a ballistic helmet, a flak jacket and a gas mask. They also discovered an undisclosed assortment of white supremacist paraphernalia.

Cell phone calls and threats

Authorities said Ferguson made a number of cell phone calls during the rampage and were checking out a claim that he shot a person in a gold van. Sgt. Daniel Hahn was quoted about Ferguson saying in the calls that he was “going to outdo (Nikolay) Soltys, something along those lines.” The rampage included claims that Ferguson planned to kill patrons in Old Sacramento and downtown entertainment districts.

Statements attributed to officials

Sacramento Police Chief Arturo Venegas Jr. said the woman was spared because “he thought she was just a nice person.”

The mayor, Heather Fargo, announced a $120,000 reward for information leading to Ferguson’s capture during a press conference Sunday afternoon.

Sacramento Sheriff Lou Blanas was quoted warning about glamorizing Ferguson, saying:

“We were very lucky”

Blanas also was quoted as saying:

“We don’t want to make this individual a martyr at all”

Sheriff’s Capt. John McGinness said:

“This is your worst nightmare”

Sheriff Lou Blanas ordered deputies to remain on duty through the night and work in two-man teams, and was quoted saying:

“I want no one going out alone”

Arrest and manhunt

After Ferguson shot and killed three former co-workers and a park employee, Sacramento police launched a nationwide manhunt for former security guard Joseph Ferguson.

Authorities believed Ferguson was driving a dark green Toyota Tercel stolen from a former co-worker he left handcuffed to a tree but unharmed at the Sacramento Zoo.

He remained at large Sunday and was believed to be heavily armed and possibly wearing a bulletproof vest.

Course of events during the rampage

First killings and threatened communications

The first attack came about 11:18 p.m. at the city’s corporation yard, 5730 24th St. Authorities believed Ferguson drove there in his El Camino and rammed a Burns security truck, which he later stole. From there, police said Ferguson went to the Burns Security building at the yards and shot Jackson and Susu. Police found a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol at that scene. Ferguson left with a Burns cell phone and radio device that sources said he used to call other employees, threatening to shoot or kill them.

Police said Ferguson also made numerous threats about shooting patrons at nightclubs downtown and elsewhere.

Miller Park Marina shootings

About half an hour later, police received a call of shots being fired at the city marina at Miller Park near the west end of Broadway. Officers found two men dead there of multiple gunshot wounds—Bernardino and Glimstad—and a jammed MAC-10 semiautomatic rifle.

Zoo hostage-taking and abduction

From Miller Park, Ferguson drove the stolen truck to the Sacramento Zoo. Police suspect he rammed through a rear gate and abducted another Burns Security guard, whom he left handcuffed to a tree. That guard was identified as Diana Phountz (also spelled in some passages as “Phountz” and “Pfoutz”), who was warned Ferguson was roaming the area after getting a call on her cell phone-radio from her cousin. Ferguson told the person: “Get out of there,” but the line went dead. Relatives heard the Burns radio crackle again with Phountz calling to say she was alive but handcuffed to a tree at the zoo. Phountz used a flashlight as a police helicopter flew overhead to help them pinpoint her.

Sources said that during Phountz’s ordeal, Ferguson mentioned McVeigh and “the Russian,” described as an apparent reference to Ukrainian immigrant Soltys, who had been charged in seven slayings.

Ferguson disappeared after leaving the zoo in Phountz’s car, a 1992 green Toyota Tercel, which was found outside the Scorpio Drive house Sunday.

Scorpio Drive events

A neighbor on Scorpio Drive, Salvador Castro, said he first spotted the Tercel at 7 a.m. Sunday parked on the street. At noon Sunday, Castro said he saw a man resembling Ferguson come out of the victim’s home and drive down the street, then return and go back inside.

Authorities said Ferguson apparently shot and killed a man living there about 9 p.m., then left the home with the man’s wife and dropped her off unharmed several miles away. Ferguson gave her a videotape and fled in the couple’s car but was spotted within a few hours and shot the CHP officer in the 3300 block of Zinfandel Drive.

Authorities said Ferguson’s father, Tom, had been finishing up a videotaped plea for authorities in which he asked his son “to do the right thing and give himself up,” and that tape was to be released to the media at 10:30 Sunday night. Authorities later received a 911 call from Lyudmila Popovich.

Forced hostage tape at the Popovich home

It was stated that Ferguson worked with Nikolay Popovich at Burns Security and went there early Sunday after killing his first four victims. Authorities said Ferguson forced the couple to feed him and barricaded the doors and windows of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with furniture and rolled up carpets. The barricades were described as designed to slow any police raid to give him enough time to kill officers. The video showed Ferguson stopping to look out the front door peephole to see if police were coming.

A quote attributed to Ferguson in that context said:

“I’m waiting for you guys,”

It was stated that Ferguson said on the tape that he converted his father's legal weapons to fully automatic ones in his Meadowview garage, without his father’s knowledge. Authorities said Ferguson also explained on the tape that he had not harmed the Popovich family and did not plan to.

Authorities said an hour later Ferguson bound and gagged Nikolay Popovich and shot him once in the back of the head. Ferguson also turned his focus to Lyudmila, telling her he had enjoyed his killing so far and discussing killing her. It was stated she talked him out of it by reading Bible passages to him.

Video suicide note and theft of supervisor’s car

However Ferguson did appear in the home of a Burns supervisor who had not been evacuated where he filmed a video suicide note before killing the supervisor and stealing his car. In the video, Ferguson said he would soon kill himself and made remarks including:

“I've taken four victims, this should be good enough to last about a week on the news. It's time to feed the news media.”

The police chase and shootout

After disappearing all day, Ferguson was spotted by a highway patrolman at 11:30 p.m., triggering a 40-minute high-speed chase through suburban Sacramento. Ferguson fired more than 200 rounds at pursuing officers before smashing his car into a light pole.

Authorities said that during the final gunbattle, Ferguson fired off more than 150 rounds of ammunition and used an assault rifle, a handgun, and a sawed off shotgun.

It was stated that Ferguson wounding a California Highway Patrol officer twice in the arm and critically wounding a motorist occurred within minutes of his death.

During the battle, it was said that Ferguson “duck[ed] behind the car to slap a fresh clip in, then hold the gun over his head and unload,” according to witness Wesley Cole.

CHP shooting details

At 11:30 p.m., CHP Sgt. Daniel Snook was headed south on Zinfandel when he saw a dark blue Nissan stopped at a traffic light and called for backup. CHP Officers Martin Tapia and Nick Salmeron pulled up and Ferguson stepped out with an automatic AK-47 assault rifle and opened fire from 20 feet away. Tapia and Salmeron’s car was peppered with bullets and they ducked down. Snook returned fire with his pistol. Ferguson jumped into his car, shooting at the patrol cars as he went past.

Tapia was shot twice in his upper left arm and was hospitalized Monday but expected to recover fully.

At Zinfandel Drive and Folsom Boulevard, Ferguson hit a fire hydrant, stopped and stepped out firing as CHP Officers Trevor Shields and Michael Terry returned fire with pistols. CHP Officers Ed Persijn and Eric Trujillo joined the battle, which lasted three minutes.

During the shootout, Ferguson fired more than 150 rounds using the assault rifle, a handgun, and a sawed off shotgun.

Motorist wounded and officers’ actions

Jeffrey Maines, 27, was sitting in his pickup on Folsom waiting to turn left when he was hit by a hollow point AK-47 round that pierced his car door and went through his side. Maines tumbled out of his car into the street and was described as saying:

“He was lying on the ground saying, 'I'm shot, I'm shot,' ”

Sacramento Sheriff’s homicide Sgt. Craig Hill had been standing behind the hood of a car aiming at Ferguson with his .40-caliber pistol, but held off firing because he feared hitting patrons running for cover behind a Jack in the Box restaurant’s parking lot. Hill drove his Chevy Tahoe directly between Ferguson’s car and Maines, and was quoted:

“It was something that needed to be done; there was no way I could let that guy lie there and die in front of us,”

Hill later found a hole from an AK-47 round that hit his car. While Hill blocked Ferguson’s view of Maines, CHP Officers Rob Luthy, Jeff Sortomme and Mark Manz, along with sheriff's Deputy Rhea Pelster, dragged him to safety. Sacramento Police Detectives Mark Hensley and Jim Pearson also opened fire, and Ferguson eventually was motionless in the front seat.

Officers approached the car and discovered Ferguson dead of what authorities say was a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Suicide and death

Ferguson committed suicide by shooting himself after he was cornered by authorities near Folsom Boulevard and Zinfandel Drive. He was found dead inside a stolen car shortly after midnight following a gunbattle.

He remained inside his vehicle with his legs and feet—clad in black combat boots—sticking out a window until an armored police van nudged the car. Officers then moved in and discovered him dead.

Neighbourhood and family details

Ferguson’s neighbors said they rarely saw the family. The family lived in a one-story brick and stucco house with a painted owl on the peak of the roof and a high wooden fence topped by barbed wire. One sign on the fence read “Danger. This property protected by California Canine Security,” and another sign had a picture of a Doberman pinscher and read “I can make it to the fence in 2.8 seconds. Can you?”

Neighbor Will Cameron said residents of the quiet, working-class street did not talk to each other much and that he had “grown up near that area of Sacramento” and was “used to people getting shot.” Cameron said:

“In today's age, it doesn't surprise me at all,”
“It does kind of spook me out. I've never been this close before.”

Lonnie Basped said it was strange and made him think about keeping his family secluded, and was quoted:

“It seems strange for things like that going on,”
“It makes me think about keeping my family secluded.”

During the search for Ferguson, it was said that neighbors described Ferguson and his family as largely anti-social and expressing racist beliefs, at times.

Rewards and protective actions

As Sacramento authorities searched for Ferguson, police and Burns officials evacuated employees from their homes and escorted them to safe houses. Extra security was placed around various sites, including synagogues.

It was stated that Burns Security told all of its 150 guards scheduled to work Sunday to stay home, forcing the closure of the Crocker Art Museum and the Central Library. City Manager Bob Thomas was quoted:

“The fact of the matter is, city facilities are not the target here,”
“The target was Burns security officers. People should not feel unsafe in city facilities.”

A $130,000 reward for Ferguson’s capture was being offered.

Video content and quotations

Authorities released comments and described video content, including Ferguson’s written or recorded statements.

Ferguson was described as having filmed a video suicide note before killing a supervisor and stealing his car. He said:

A videotape was also described as being made by Ferguson explaining why he murdered four of his five victims. During a self-made videotape, Ferguson bragged:

“put on a hell of a show,”

Ferguson also said on the videotape:

“I've taken four victims,”
and then: before slaying former Burns International Security co-worker Nikolay P. Popovich.

Another quote attributed to Ferguson in the video said:

“I giveth and I taketh away, that's how it goes in fucking life.”

In addition, Ferguson forced a hostage to tape shortly before he killed the man, and on the tape Ferguson made profane explanations for his reasons for the rampage. Blanas cautioned the media not to glamorize Ferguson, and office released a heavily edited, 90-second version of the tape.

It was also stated that Ferguson said he would soon kill himself and he promised in the tape to “just pop myself,” and that he implied on the tape he was acting in part because of the attention Soltys received.

Charges and court proceedings

No charges, trials, verdicts, or sentencing proceedings were stated in the provided material.

Aftermath

Police and sheriff’s officials described the death as ending a tense night for officials. After discovering Ferguson’s death, authorities said it ended the threat after he had been feared to kill many others.

Ferguson’s mother declined to be interviewed about her son’s killing spree and death, and a state corrections official Stephen Green was quoted about her learning of the suicide on the radio and receiving assistance from a prison psychologist:

“She learned about her son's suicide on the radio,”
“She was distraught and she was getting assistance from a prison psychologist.”

Sacramento Sheriff Lou Blanas was quoted about the case:

There were also questions raised about whether authorities responded quickly enough to reports that Ferguson made threats last week against Burns International Security and his ex-girlfriend, and whether Burns did enough to check on the welfare of its employees.