Man accused of killing deputy sparked similar confrontation in 2001 Female veteran dies, township officer wounded in gunbattle with suspect at campground in Clark County; police kill shooter Sunday, January 2, 2011 03:00 AM Updated: Sunday, January 2, 2011 11:57 PM By Charlie Boss and Jim Woods THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—The man who killed a Clark County deputy sheriff Saturday had a similar confrontation nine years ago in which he shot at deputies while holed up in a camper.
Michael L. Ferryman, 57, who officials said fatally shot Deputy Suzanne Waughtel Hopper and then died during a shootout with officers, also fired shots at deputies in Morgan County in 2001.
No one was hurt in the incident near Malta, and Ferryman was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric facility in Columbus.
Authorities identified Ferryman today as the man who fired a shotgun at close range and killed Hopper, 40, who had responded to reports of gunfire at a trailer park in Enon, a village west of Springfield. During the shootout that followed, a township police officer was wounded, and Ferryman died.
Hopper appears to be the first law-enforcement officer in the nation to be killed in the line of duty this year.
"It's a loss for this community," said Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly, who became choked up during a news conference today.
He said the state Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation is handling the investigation, including securing the crime scene and probing the deaths of Ferryman and Hopper.
Morgan County Prosecutor Mark Howdyshell said, "You've got to be kidding me" when he was told by The Dispatch today that Ferryman had killed the Clark County deputy.
On Sept. 5, 2001, Ferryman was sharing a camper with his girlfriend Maria Holsinger-Blessing on AEP recreation grounds when they became upset with other campers who had taken firewood from a community pile. The Morgan County sheriff's office was called about shots being fired at other campers, according to Associated Press reports.
When deputies approached the couple's campsite, shots rang out. At least 16 shots were fired at deputies as the couple barricaded themselves inside their camper.
It took 26 hours of negotiations before Ferryman and Holsinger-Blessing surrendered the next afternoon. Both were charged with felonious assault, news reports said.
Ferryman was first found mentally incompetent to stand trial, Howdyshell said. In January 2002, Ferryman was committed for a year to Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare on the Hilltop in Columbus, according to the Zanesville Times-Recorder.
When Ferryman went to trial, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, said Howdyshell, who then was assistant county prosecutor.
A few weeks ago, Howdyshell said he was talking with a state mental-health official about another case when Ferryman's name came up. Howdyshell said he knew that Ferryman had been in a halfway house in Springfield and had been under supervised release.
Saturday's shootout is reminiscent of Ferryman's altercation with Morgan County authorities.
Hopper and a sergeant were the first to respond to the call about 11:45 a.m. at 2401 Enon Rd. in the Enon Beach campground, about 50 miles west of Columbus.
Hopper and the sergeant interviewed people who said shots had been fired into their trailer. Hopper was examining footprints outside another trailer when the door opened. She only had time to call the sergeant's name before she was shot once with a shotgun, Kelly said. Ferryman returned to his trailer and refused to come out. About 50 law-enforcement officers and two special-response teams from neighboring areas came to help, Kelly said. A gunfight broke out after numerous attempts to coax Ferryman from his trailer failed, and Jeremy Blum, an officer with the German Township Police Department, was shot in the shoulder. Kelly said Blum has a collapsed lung but was in fair condition at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. Once the gunfire subsided, officers found Ferryman dead. Kelly wouldn't say whether the wound was self-inflicted or occurred during the shootout. Eight of his deputies are on leave because they were involved in the shootout. Hopper, a mother of two who was recently married, had received several commendations since joining the sheriff's office in 1999. Her personnel file is full of positive evaluations and letters from families she's helped.
Ken McGarvey, who lived next to Hopper, said she went beyond her duties by bringing food and clothing to families she had helped earlier. He called her a strong-minded woman who was dedicated to helping others.
"She didn't have an opportunity to defend herself. If that was the case, she would have won," he said.
Today, a handful of deputies lined up outside Clark County offices in downtown Springfield to salute Hopper, whose body was being transported from the Montgomery County coroner's office.
The hearse was flanked by sheriff's, Enon police and Mad River Township fire vehicles. Streets were temporarily blocked while it made its way to the Littleton & Rue Funeral Home. "It's a small, small token," Kelly said.
cboss@dispatch.com jwoods@dispatch.com