State Won’t Pay Reward to Tipsters Who Led Police to Man Who Killed 5

A Sacramento woman and four friends who led police to a gunman during a deadly Sacramento shooting rampage will not receive a $50,000 state reward because the suspect killed himself, according to the governor’s office.

They will, however, receive $80,000 from other sources.

The woman and companions had spotted accused killer Joseph Ferguson and followed him in her car Sept. 9. After a fierce gun battle with police, Ferguson--a security guard who police say shot five people to death and left two wounded--turned a gun on himself.

State law allows a reward to be paid only if police receive information that leads to a conviction, said Hilary McLean, a spokeswoman for Gov. Gray Davis. “The penal code is clear on this issue.”

The $50,000 state reward was promised as part of a $130,000 bounty offered by officials as police hunted for Ferguson the day of the shootings.

About 11:30 p.m. that night, the woman and her companions spotted Ferguson driving in Rancho Cordova. They called police on a mobile telephone and stayed on the line as they followed Ferguson’s car until California Highway Patrol officers arrived.

Police said Ferguson had shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and three Burns International Security co-workers, as well as a 19-year-old city boat dockworker. Two others were injured in the shooting spree, police said.

Ferguson had forced a co-worker to videotape an angry tirade in which he detailed the reasons for his massacre, including a history of sexual abuse by his mother, who is serving a prison term for molesting her sons. After completing the tape, Ferguson bound, gagged and then shot and killed his colleague.

When he faced off with police, Ferguson fired more than 200 shots with an assault rifle and shotgun before shooting himself, police said.

The woman and her four friends should receive the bulk of the reward package, said Chuck Dalldorf, a spokesman for Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo. The U.S. Marshal’s Service has contributed $10,000. The city of Sacramento intends to contribute $20,000 and Burns Security will add $50,000, Dalldorf said.