Mother and son shot after escaping fire speak out

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Police are still looking for a man they say is connected to three separate shootings and a fire over the weekend.

Police say they believe Harold Bishop, aka Balagoon Sankoffa, aka Zimbabwe Sancoffe, shot 45-year-old William Cullens on the city’s northwest side around 11 p.m. Friday.

Cullens was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital in serious condition. According to the police report, Cullens told police he borrowed $500 from the man he called Zimbabwe.

Police reports show Zimbabwe asked Cullens for the money and then shot him. It was Saturday morning when the second shooting happened.

This time, it was on the 3700 block of Forest Manor Avenue. There, police say a mother and a son were shot after escaping a fire in their home.

24-Hour News 8 spoke with the family for the first time Monday.  Shana Ford Gogoua said, “I’m just thankful to be here.”

Her son, Zachary Joseph, said, “It was a surreal situation.”

Their home caught fire early Saturday morning. Shana’s husband Richard Gogoua was in New York City at the time. Shana and Zachary fought to escape.

“I was running downstairs, and my mom was coming upstairs to try to get me to tell me to get out,” said Zachary. At first, he said, it was difficult to get out. “I just swung my arms to find the front door, and somehow I grabbed it and fell outside onto the porch.”

Once outside, he says a car pulled up, and a man got out with a gun.

“In my mind, I was wondering why he wasn’t helping us - why he wasn’t calling 911. That’s when he shot us,” said Zachary.

Zachary was shot in the stomach twice. His mom was shot in the upper thigh. Both were released from the hospital and are expected to make full recoveries.

But the story became more complicated. Shana’s husband, Richard, says he knows the man police say is the shooter.

He says he’s a contractor who once worked on their home. Harold Bishop is known to the family as “Zimbabwe.”

The family says they paid Zimbabwe to do a roofing job on the house in 2009, but Richard says Zimbabwe never paid his workers. Richard says Zimbabwe’s workers, including a man named Khalfani Shabazz, started calling Richard, asking for money.

“After the work was done, he [Zimbabwe] got paid, but he never paid his contractors,” said Richard Gogoua.

That’s when the third shooting comes in. Police say it was around 7:45 a.m. Saturday when they believe Harold Bishop, aka Zimbabwe, went to the 3800 block of Winthrop Avenue, where 51-year-old Khalfani Shabazz lived. Shabazz was found shot on his porch. He later died of his injuries.

The Gogoua family says they’re speaking up because they’re hoping Bishop, a.k.a. Zimbabwe, is found.

“Anybody who knows where Zimbabwe is, don’t keep that to  yourself,” said Gogoua. “Let police know.”

Police say you can call Crimestoppers at 317-262-TIPS, or call IMPD if you know the suspect’s whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Shana Ford’s family has set up a donation website so the family can start to get back on their feet.

Ford had a hair styling business in the basement, and her son Zachary just graduated from Cincinnati Christian College, and is headed to play professional basketball in Europe.

You can find that website here.