Neb. Gunman’s Family Puzzled By Hospital Shootout
Family Struggles To Understand Why Neb. Man Fatally Wounded By Police Fired At Officers
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Those who knew Jeff Layten say he was a good father and businessman who was comfortable hosting some of the pillars of Nebraska power at the hunting club he owned.
They said nothing in the background of the 39-year-old father of two explains why he considered suicide and eventually fired at police at an Omaha hospital, wounding two officers before being gunned down.
As investigators on Thursday worked to piece together the final frantic hours that led to the fatal confrontation Wednesday at Creighton University Medical Center, friends and family of Layten were left wondering how his life took such a violent turn.
“If he was able to talk to us, we’d know a lot more,” Layten’s father-in-law, Bill Ulrich, said Thursday. He described Layten as a good businessman, marksman, loving father and “a hell of a man.”
Ulrich, who lives in the Omaha suburb of La Vista, said his family is doing well, but he asked for privacy as they mourn.
Layten owned the 360-acre Upland Fields Hunt Club near Tekamah, where he hosted prominent public officials and business leaders, including at least one congressman and senator. He also had at least four years of Army training, said Omaha attorney James Martin Davis, who considered Layten a friend. Layten had minor run-ins with the law for a hunting violation and writing a bad check, but no other criminal cases involving Layten appear in online court records from the past decade.
“I can’t imagine Jeff Layten, in his right mind, would have pulled a firearm and shot at an Omaha police officer,” Davis said.
Police say Layten’s troubles began hours before the shootout, in Tekamah, about 40 miles north of Omaha.
The Burt County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were called to Layten’s former home in Tekamah to investigate a domestic assault, but Layten’s wife didn’t report the assault until an hour after it happened. She told deputies Layten had already left in his pickup truck and had taken three guns with him.
Burt County Sheriff Robert Pickell said Layten’s wife “got a beating,” but refused to be taken by ambulance to an area hospital.
La Vista police Chief Robert Lausten said a woman called his department around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday to report that Layten, her sister’s estranged husband, had attacked her sister in Tekamah and threatened to drive to La Vista to kill her and her mother.
Lausten said officers set up surveillance at the La Vista homes and that Layten drove by his estranged wife’s mother’s home within minutes.
Officers tried to stop the truck, but Layten took off and led police on a chase through the city at speeds of over 90 mph, Lausten said. Officers gave up the chase, and Layten crashed into a utility pole in nearby Ralston a short time later. Layten fled the scene armed with a rifle, the chief said.
Omaha police are trying to determine Layten’s whereabouts between the chase and the hospital shootout, Hayes said. At some point, Layten left a rifle at a pay phone in south Omaha, Hayes said. Police recovered the gun after one of Layten’s relatives reported that he’d told them about it, Hayes said.
Hayes said Layten expressed suicidal thoughts to several relatives during phone calls Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Hayes didn’t say exactly what Layten told his relatives.
Layten arrived at the hospital around 8 a.m., Hayes said. Authorities traced a call Layten made at the hospital after the concerned relative called 911 around 9 a.m.
When police arrived, Layten was still standing at a pay phone in a hospital lobby, Hayes said. Confronted by a team of four officers who ordered him to show his hands, Layten pulled out a semiautomatic .45-caliber handgun, Hayes said.
About the time one officer was firing a Taser at Layten, he was firing his gun, Hayes said. Police then returned fire, striking Layten in the upper chest several times, Hayes said.
Officer Lee Kerniskey was grazed in the thigh, and Officer Eric Picht suffered a gunshot wound in a foot, Hayes said. Both were treated and released.
Police said an autopsy will be performed Thursday on Layten’s body.
Layten’s past offered little immediate explanation for the events of the last 24 hours of his life, and his family declined to talk about him Wednesday.
“Jeff’s entire family is profoundly saddened by today’s events. We appreciate the media’s respect of our privacy in this time of mourning,” the family said in a statement released Wednesday by police.
Calls Wednesday and Thursday to a Tekamah phone listing for Jeffrey and Courtney Layten went unanswered. Several other family members did not immediately respond to messages left Wednesday and Thursday morning.
U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Nebraska, issued a statement saying he’s hunted on Layten’s property many times.
“Jeff has always been an easygoing person, and today’s episode is very out of character for him,” Terry said.
U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson had hunted at Layten’s club in Tekamah a couple times, but Nelson’s spokesman said the senator did not know Layten personally.
Burt County Court records show Layten was fined $50 in 2008 for violating deer regulations and fined $10 in 2007 for writing a bad check.
