Suspected copper theft ends in shocking death

A Bastrop man died early Friday after being fatally shocked atop an electrical transformer in Elgin, according to city officials. 

Gary W. Ferguson, 47, was found dead about 1:20 a.m. Aug. 1 on a transformer platform in the 300 block of East First Street. Officers with the Elgin Police Department responded to a report of a possible electrocution and located Ferguson’s body on top of the equipment, the city said in a release.

Investigators revealed Ferguson may have been attempting to strip copper wire from the transformer at the time of his death, based on tools discovered nearby. Police did not specify what kind of tools were found.