FORT WAYNE – A co-worker of a local attorney who was seriously injured in a March shooting woke this morning to the sound of gunfire.
Police were called to the 800 block of Blackthorn Cove at 5:40 a.m. after the lawyer found two holes in a rear window and saw someone riding a bicycle on the sidewalk behind his home, according to a statement issued by the Fort Wayne Police Department.
No injuries were reported.
A canine unit followed a track southeast down a sidewalk and then east to a dead end in the area of 1000 Ivy Creek Cove, the statement said.
Investigators are exploring the possibility that this might be related to a shooting on March 27 in the nearby Shorewood subdivision, police said. Both the shooting victim, David Kuker, and today's homeowner are both employed at the Faegre Baker Daniels law firm.
It identified the homeowner as Jeffrey A. Goeglein in a written statement.
Police are asking that anyone who may have seen anyone fleeing from the area on foot, on a bicycle or in a vehicle, or who might have witnessed any other suspicious activity in the area at that time contact police at 427-1222 or Crime Stoppers at 436-7867.
The police department said residents in the neighborhood off Illinois Road can expect to see increased patrols and periodic checks in the area, and that there will also be a police presence at the law firm's office, "as a precautionary measure."
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the March shooting. The non-profit, crime-fighting organization announced the reward last month, saying the money came from several anonymous donations.
The gunman confronted Kuker in his attached garage, sprayed his eyes with some sort of substance and shot him twice with a handgun, authorities said.
Kuker, who practices corporate law for Faegre Baker Daniels, told police he did not know the gunman and could not provide a description of him.
Police believe the shooter fled south from Kuker's house on White Shell Drive in the Shorewood housing addition, just off Illinois Road. The shooter ran through the northeast edge of a nearby pond, continued south around the pond and then went west or southwest. The shooter possibly got into a waiting vehicle at the end of a cul-de-sac or fled south across Illinois Road, police said.
