Stabbing suspect
Ferris student Ezekial Guillermo Fulgencio, 19, was taken into custody at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23, for allegedly stabbing Ferris student Joseph Guertier, 20, between the hours of 2 and 3 a.m. earlier that day in Brophy Hall.
The incident occurred inside Fulgencio’s room, Brophy 131.
No university-sanctioned events are listed on the official Ferris campus calendar for Saturday, Feb. 22, as beginning after the hockey game against Alaska Anchorage, which ended at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Court documents list Fulgencio’s address as his Brophy Hall room. Guertier also lives in Brophy Hall, and according to police, the two students are acquaintances.
Fulgencio is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He is also faced with assault with a dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum penalty of 4 years in prison.
The stabbing reportedly occurred during an altercation between Fulgencio and Guertier, according to a Sunday, Feb. 23 news release from the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Department, which initially took lead in the investigation.
Officers are still unsure about the context of the situation.
Fulgencio, who is believed to have used a 2- to 3-inch blade in the attack, is lodged in the Mecosta County Jail on $100,000 bond.
“Additional arrests may be made,” Ferris News Services Manager Sandy Gholston told the Torch in an e-mail. “The prosecutor is reviewing reports. The victim is cooperating.”
The stabbing was first reported as having occurred at Oakwood Townhouses, an off-campus student housing complex located one mile southeast of Ferris State University on 14 Mile Road.
At 6:41 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, Ferris students, faculty and staff received an Emergency Alert via e-mail notifying them of the incident as well as a description of the suspect, whose identity was unknown at the time.
According to Ferris News Services Manager Sandy Gholston, Spectrum Health Hospital officials reported the incident to central dispatch as having occurred at Oakwood.
When police interviewed Guertier, he said the stabbing happened at Oakwood.
“Information provided later in the day, however, confirmed that the incident occurred at an on-campus location–in a Ferris residence hall,” Gholston told the Torch in an e-mail.
After establishing the incident happened on campus, Ferris Department of Public Safety took over the investigation, which is ongoing.
“With an ongoing investigation, we don’t want to speculate as to why the victim cited Oakwood in the original report,” Gholston said.
Anyone with information about the stabbing is asked to contact Ferris DPS at (231) 591-5000. Individuals wishing to confidentially report a tip can call the Campus Crime Hotline at (231) 591-5900 or e-mail BulldogsTextTip@nullferris.edu.