Warren mourns sibling shooting victims

WARREN

– Just days before she was fatally shot inside her Mt. Horeb Road home here, Heidi Lynn Errickson envisioned a happy life with her son and fiancé.

"My life is so complete I have a great kid that I absolutely adore. My fiancé John Reno is amazing. Who could of thought life could be this amazing again !!!! Dreams do come true it's all good!!" Errickson wrote on her Facebook page Aug. 2.

Fourteen days later, Reno, 48, who is believed to have a history of mental illness, fatally shot his fiancee, Heidi Errickson, 45, with whom he lived, and her brother, Frederick Errickson Jr., 55, of Middlesex Borough, before an hourslong standoff with a SWAT team Sunday afternoon, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said Monday.

Reno also killed himself, possibly within the first 10 minutes of the confrontation, Soriano said.

UPDATE: Gunman fired assaut rifle at cops as soon as they arrived

"This is an extremely sad time for all of our township residents," said Mayor Michael "Mick" Marion. "Our priorities will continue to be the safety and welfare of our community as witnessed yesterday afternoon and I'm grateful to our police department, all first responders and volunteers. Their professional actions kept our community, our residents safe. However, at this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' family.

A statement from Marion's office said "the dissemination of information needed to be limited (Sunday) in order to insure the safety of residents as well as the safety of emergency responders."

Heidi Errickson was described as a sweet woman who was self-sufficient despite an accident years ago that left her physically challenged.

"She lived there by herself for quite a few years," said Brian DiNardo, owner of DiNardo's Auto and Tire, located diagonally across from the Errickson home at 232 Mount Horeb Road.

DiNardo said Errickson worked for the local school district part time while her father and cousin own the junkyard next to her home.

"She was really a sweet person. She was so good," said DiNardo, adding that Errickson had one arm as a result of an auto accident many years ago when she was pregnant.

Her husband died in the accident. DiNardo said Errickson raised her son by herself. He said her son is college age, about 19 or 20.

A newspaper story about the 1995 accident indicates that the car driven by Gabriel Vallie, 23, went off the Ohio Turnpike after he apparently fell asleep at the wheel. He was killed in the accident and Errickson was seriously injured. Neither was wearing a seat belt. The couple's 5-month-old son, Gabriel, who was in a child safety seat, was not injured.

"She did everything on her own, you have to give her credit for that," DiNardo said, adding that she drove a handicap-accessible vehicle. "She maintained her own house."

DiNardo said Errickson has two brothers, Freddie Jr. and Charles. The brothers at times worked for the father at the junk yard.

"We used to see her cutting the grass," he said. "She was good. The kid was good."

DiNardo said he has known the Errickson family for the 39 years he has been in business. He said the family is well known because they were born and raised in Warren.

He said Errickson and her brother, Fred, were close in age.

Warren Township school officials and staff members expressed shock and sadness over the news of Heidi Errickson's tragic death. Errickson has worked as a paraprofessional in the district since November 2002.

"This senseless killing has left us all shaken," said Interim Superintendent Elizabeth Nastus. "Ms. Errickson was a valued member of our school community. Our hearts go out to her family at this extremely difficult time."

According to Nastus, Errickson joined the school district as a part-time, multiduty paraprofessional at Central School, where she supervised children from kindergarten to fifth grade during lunch and recess. She also served as a kindergarten classroom aide.

"Whether providing a helping hand with a first-grader at lunch or watching over a group of fourth-graders on the playground, Heidi could always be counted on to be attentive and professional," said Central School Principal Janet Milita. "She will be greatly missed."

Nastus said that crisis counseling was made available to district staff, parents and students Monday and will be again Tuesday. Information on the scheduled sessions, along with resources for helping children to deal with traumatic events,, is available on the district website at www.warrentboe.org .

A telephone number for Frederick Errickson Jr.'s home was not in service Monday.

However, on the News 12 website, Kimberley Dontis Errickson described her husband, Frederick, as a "good man, husband, brother and pop pop."

"Heidi was a great aunt, sister and friend," she said, adding that the family didn't know Reno had mental health issues. "No one deserves to die."

Frederick Errickson was remembered with love by his daughter, Kara Vanderhelm.

"I love you," she said. "You're always in my heart. Now it's my turn to get a tattoo of your name. I just wanna see your smiling face so bad."

Kelly Errickson-Best asked for privacy on Facebook to process what happened to her brother and sister.

"As you may be aware, I lost my sister Heidi and brother Freddy today," she said. "Please know that I love you all but will not be answering for a few days. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and patience."

On Facebook, friends have been leaving their condolences for family members.

Susan Johnstone Moose said, "Fred was an amazing man," while Susan Jane said, "I can not get over the shock of this. My deepest condolences go out to everyone. This news has left me heart broken."

Staff Writer Suzanne Rusell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com