POLICE WAITING TO INTERVIEW DEA AGENT ABOUT SHOOTING

Jacksonville police said yesterday they were waiting to interview an
unidentified federal agent who they say accidentally shot and killed a
24-year-old suspect Monday on the Westside.

The dead man, Curt Eugene Ferryman, was targeted by a joint anti-narcotics
operation that police said went awry about 6:30 p.m., shortly after
undercover agents received about $50,000 worth of marijuana.

Police said a Drug Enforcement Administration agent approached Ferryman who
was sitting in a car, and the agent fired a single shot from his 9 mm
handgun that apparently went through the car's window and hit Ferryman.

"Preliminarily, it appears to be an accidental discharge," said Detective
Chief Frank Mackesy, who stressed that investigators can offer no conclusive
information until they interview the agent.

Mackesy said federal guidelines keep police from interviewing the agent
until after his "debriefing" by the DEA.

He said police will not identify the agent until after he is interviewed.

"It's our policy that we don't normally release that type of information
until we've really concluded everything we are going to conclude with the
investigation," Mackesy said.

Mackesy said the shooting occurred on the roadside near Ferryman's listed
address of 3802 Imeson Road, which was the site of a sting conducted by the
DEA, FBI and Jacksonville police.

He said agents had received about 50 pounds worth of marijuana that was
taken from one car and placed in another. Ferryman was inside the second
vehicle, expecting payment when the DEA agent approached.

Ferryman was hit in the upper torso and later died at Shands Jacksonville
hospital, police said.

Mackesy said three people, at least one of whom was a law enforcement
officer, were in the car with Ferryman. Also, about eight to 10 witnesses,
including police personnel, were at the scene when the shooting occurred, he
said.

Mackesy said he does not know if the agent pointed the weapon toward the
window.

He said there is "some indication" that undercover agents had announced they
were police.

One person in the neighborhood said she heard only a single gunshot and no
hollering or other noise before it rang out.

Shayna Smith, who knew Ferryman, said she was cooking on a grill in her back
yard. She said she could not see the police or Ferryman, but she did not
hear any of the agents say anything until after the single shot thundered
out.

"They should have let him know before they shot," Smith said. "He was just a
young kid, 24. He had his whole life ahead of him."

Ferryman has a criminal record, according to public documents.

He has been arrested seven times since May 1994, when at the age of 18 he
was charged with a felony count of possessing drug paraphernalia.

All other charges against Ferryman were listed as misdemeanors.

The records say Ferryman was born in London, Ohio, moved to the area in the
early 1990s and has mostly worked in construction since then. He had an
11th-grade education.