Troy fatal office shooting: 'All hell broke loose'

Mike Martindale, Jennifer Chambers and Shawn Lewis / The Detroit News

TROY -- Gordon Advisors, the Troy accounting firm that was the scene of a fatal shooting earlier today, said its offices will be closed Tuesday in memory "of our beloved Madeline Kafoury."

The notice of the closing was posted this afternoon on the firm's Web site.

Police said Kafoury, 63, a retired employee who came back to help out during tax season, was shot dead Monday morning by Anthony LaCalamita, 38, of Troy.

Employees of the accounting firm said two other men, Paul Rivas and Alan Steinberg, also were shot by LaCalamita. Rivas was shot in the chest; Steinberg in the leg. Both men were taken to Beaumont Hospital, where family members asked that information about their conditions not be released.

Police arrested LaCalamita, following a high-speed chase that began on Interstate 75 north of where the shootings took place. Police said LaCalamita had been fired by the firm on Friday.

"It looks like we have found the vehicle and the suspect," said Troy police Lt. Gerry Scherlinck. A long gun was recovered, police said. Scherlinck said the suspect "sought out specific people and this was a very deliberate act."

The gunfire erupted about 10 a.m. in the second floor of the building at 1301 W. Long Lake Road near Crooks.

The day started normally for Jean Larson, who reported for work as a staff accountant for G&C, a Troy-based accounting firm at that serves as a subsidiary for Gordon Advisors, a 40- to 50-employee company where workers have been busy preparing last-minute tax returns.

Ninety minutes later, "all hell broke loose," she said.

"We heard pop, pop, pop," said Larson, 48, who at first thought the sound was a fallen bookshelf or noise made by the children of fellow employees.

But when she smelled gunpowder and heard other co-workers running down a hallway screaming, she realized it was gunfire that she had heard.

"I heard one employee screaming, `He's got a gun. He's got a gun.' ... It was a panic. No one knew what to do. No one knew where to go."

After briefly assembling in the employee lunchroom, one person suggested it would be safer to hole up inside individual offices. Larson joined two female co-workers, barricading the locked door with chairs, turning off the lights and silencing their cell phones.

Beneath the desk, the three employees curled up in fetal positions and didn't make a sound.

"I was just so scared," Larson said. "I just kept thinking, `This can't be happening.'"

Police did not identify the victims, but the message posted on Gordon Advisors' Web site said the office would be closed Tuesday in memory of Madeline Kafoury.

The two wounded victims were men, Beaumont Hospital spokeswoman Ilene Wolfe said. She had no details about the person who was killed, except that the person died on the way to the hospital.

The suspect's car was stopped on the north side of Saginaw County. Police first spotted the car in Genesee County near Clio on I-75. Genesee County Undersheriff James Gage said three sheriff's deputies began pursuing LaCalamita after getting a tip.

"A Good Samaritan spotted the vehicle and called it in," Gage said. Once LaCalamita spotted police, "he took off at high speed."

The Genesee County deputies were joined by officers from the Michigan State Police and other jurisdictions in pursuing LaCalamita as he drove 20 to 25 miles north on I-75 at more than 100 mph through Saginaw County into Bay County.

After about 15 minutes, LaCalamita pulled over and allowed police to apprehend him.

LaCalamita was listed as part of the professional staff on the Web site of Gordon Advisors, a public accounting and business consulting firm.

Scherlinck said the shooter used a long gun _ either a rifle or a shotgun _ and was a former employee of one of the offices. Scherlinck could not say how many shots were fired.

Troy Police Chief Charles Craft said some witnesses told police that when the shooter walked in, he looked as if he was trying to hide something.

"I'm sure he made an effort to conceal the weapon," Craft said. "Witnesses said he was concealing something. They just weren't sure what."

"I'm not positive all three of the people were targeted but there appeared to be some purpose," Craft said.

The 170,000-square-foot building houses a number of businesses, including law offices and the accounting firm where the shooting was believed to have occurred. Police at first told workers to stay in their offices but a short time later evacuated the building, although some workers remained locked inside their offices.

The three victims were transported to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital, according to spokeswoman Ilene Wolff.

Dan Rosenberg, a partner in the law firm of Barron, Rosenberg, Mayoras & Mayoras was in a suite on the third floor barricaded inside with nearly 20 other people, including clients. "The shooting happened on the second floor and the police told us to stay inside, lock the door and push a conference table against the door," said Rosenberg. "But the problem is we have a glass door."

Rosenberg said he and other other employees already called their families to assure them they were safe.

The 3-story office building is near Troy High School which is not occupied this week due to Spring break.

You can reach Jennifer Chambers at (248) 647-7402 or jchambers@detnews.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.