Firm’s Head Still Upset Over Shooting Response : Slayings: President of Elgar Corp. wants more information on why police waited four minutes a half-block from the shooting scene.

Still not fully satisfied with how police responded to last week’s fatal shootings of two executives at his electronics company, Elgar Corp. President Bill Humphreys asked Tuesday for more specifics about why police spent four minutes a half-block from company headquarters before getting closer to the scene.

In a meeting Tuesday with Police Chief Bob Burgreen and City Manager Jack McGrory, Humphreys also brought up new information from some of his employees that they first notified 911 dispatchers of shooting as early as 2 p.m.

Burgreen and McGrory told Humphreys that police responded satisfactorily to the shooting June 4 by disgruntled former employee Larry T. Hansel but would reinvestigate why officers waited four minutes down a hill from the building before deciding to move closer and finally enter the front door.

Armed with a shotgun, Hansel calmly and methodically shot and killed Michael Krowitz, a sales manager, and John Jones, a company vice president, before hopping on a mountain bike and riding away. He surrendered hours later to sheriff’s deputies in Riverside County. Jones died at the scene. Krowitiz died in surgery.

After the shooting, Humphreys was indignant about the police response time, telling The Times that someone in his office called police at 2:20 p.m. Anxious for police units to arrive, Humphreys said he got out on the roof and saw a police car sitting down the hill from the building and called 911 a second time at 2:40.

In all, Humphreys said, there was a 27-minute delay.

At Tuesday’s meeting, he passed along new information from some of his employees, who insisted that they called police as early as 2 p.m. That would add up to a 37-minute gap between the time police were called and the moment they entered the building.

Burgreen told Humphreys that communications dispatchers took the first call about the shooting at 2:24 p.m., and that the first police car got to the intersection of Brown Deer Road and Carroll Road at 2:30 p.m.

Officers waited for a second car to arrive four minutes later. During that time, police interviewed employees fleeing from the building. At 2:37 p.m., police entered the building for the first time.

According to results of an internal investigation provided to The Times Monday, Police Lt. Bill Brown said police used the four minutes to determine the correct address of the shooting, whether Hansel was still in the building and whether anyone was injured.

Brown, who monitors the department’s inspection and controls division, concluded that police were not unnecessarily delayed at the scene.

“We feel that all was done as it should have been done,” Brown said Tuesday. “If a police officer rushes in and gets shot in that situation, he’s no help to anybody.”

Humphreys, however, said he wanted further details about what went on during those four minutes, according to McGrory.

“We’re going to take another look at the four minutes to see what happened,” McGrory said. “At this point, we’re satisfied that police did what they were supposed to do, but Mr. Humphreys wants some more information, and we’ll get it to him.”

Burgreen could not be reached for comment. Police spokesman Dave Cohen said Burgreen was able to answer nearly all of Humphreys’ questions and said he would be meeting with Humphreys again to answer the rest, although Cohen said he did not know exactly what information was given the company president.

“The chief felt Mr. Humphreys had a better understanding of police procedures and safety questions,” Cohen said. “The chief understands that people need to know all the details in situations like this. Whether it was accurate or inaccurate, Mr. Humphreys felt that the police took an unreasonable time to get into the building.”

A spokeswoman for the company, Catherine Wambach, confirmed Tuesday that Humphreys raised the issue of employees calling as early as 2 p.m. and “other issues” he would not elaborate on.

She said employees volunteered the new information after reading the Police Department’s version of events in The Times Tuesday.