Sunday, July 29, 2007

A Shooting in Sarasota

"A workplace dispute turns deadly for two women Friday. Investigators say 51-year-old Jacquelyn Ferguson shot her boss to death before eventually turning the gun on herself. It happened in the 3000 block of Bee Ridge Road. Investigators say Ferguson was supposed to be fired from her job today, but instead fired shots first. 45-year-old Denise Keyworth, Ferguson's boss, was shot and killed. Ferguson escaped, but deputies found her at home a few hours later. She had turned the gun on herself. The shots rang out just after 8:30 Friday morning. "Two girls in the front office heard a couple of shots and a scream and a few more shots," says witness David Jones. Minutes after swat team members surrounded the doctor's office with snipers on rooftops and crouched behind cars. Deputies closed part of Bee Ridge Road during morning rush hour and evacuated nearby buildings. "We did have some people still in that building, we did get them out," says Sheriff Bill Balkwill. But deputies thought the shooter was still inside,” unfortunately when we went in, the suspect was not there." Instead they found the body of Denise Keyworth, witnesses say she was the Office Manager for Dr. Jeffrey Sack, she'd been shot and killed. Co-workers pointed to 51-year-old Jacquelyn Ferguson, a fellow employee investigators call disgruntled. They say Ferguson was supposed to be fired by the victim Friday morning, but an argument started, then gunfire, deputies launched a manhunt, the first stop Ferguson’s home. Deputies found Ferguson’s body on the lanai of her home the suspected killer dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Neighbor’s say they never saw it coming, "I thought there was no way. It had to be someone else," says Jessie Laiken. Co-workers say Keyworth had been the Office Manager of Dr. Jeffrey Sack's practice for the last 10 years. They say Ferguson had only worked there for about 6 months."

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