EVANSVILLE, Ind. - After spending several hours in the home of Robert W. Pickett, federal authorities late Wednesday night left with a computer, answering machine and written materials.

        The evidence was hauled from Mr. Pickett's home at 319 Tyler Ave. It is where he lived with his parents until their deaths. His mother died in 1987; his father in 1995.

        The 47-year-old, shot outside the White House Wednesday morning after firing a handgun, is a tax accountant with a history of mental illness and grudges against the government.

Investigators and reporters converge outside the Evansville, Ind., home of Robert W. Pickett. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        “They were looking for computer stuff,” said Evansville Police Capt. Bill Welcher. “No explosives were found.”

        Throughout the day — shortly after word leaked from Washington, D.C., that the Evansville man was involved in the shooting — the middle-class neighborhood four hours from Cincinnati became flooded with media.

        Reporters and photographers mingled with curious neighbors as representatives of the FBI, Secret Service and other federal agencies stood nearby.

        Predictably, friends and neighbors were stunned by Mr. Pickett's involvement.

        “I knew him as a lad. He seemed perfectly normal,” said Ernie Hicks, who grew up in the same Evansville neighborhood as Mr. Pickett. They attended the same elementary school and were members of the same Boy Scouts troop.

        “He was just a very smart, very nice person. (But) maybe there wasn't a lot of people who knew him well. It's a bloody shame. It really is.”

        Steve Yurks, a small-business owner, hired Mr. Pickett to do his accounting more than 10 years ago.

        Mr. Pickett, he said, was “different, but likeable.” Mr. Yurks hired the man because of his reputation as an expert accountant.

        Mr. Yurks said Mr. Pickett could be confrontational when people second-guessed him, but he never seemed dangerous.

        However, “He was always angry with the government,” Mr. Yurks said.

        “He was definitely an enigma in the respect that he was so extremely intelligent, but always second fiddle or in the shadow of things,” he said. “He did not like the system. The system was wrong. The system wronged him.”

        Several neighbors said they knew little of Mr. Pickett, other than his penchant to jog at night, usually between 9 to 10 p.m.

        “He never talked about a personal life and I never saw him with anybody. I think he lived a very secluded and lonely life,” said Mike Jewel, who lived next door to him.

        “He never talked about a personal life and I never saw him with anybody. I think he lived a very secluded and lonely life.”

        “As far as I knew, he was an outstanding neighbor,” added Lewis Gates, who last saw Mr. Pickett in December.

        Mr. Pickett's father's will allows the son to live in the house for the rest of his life, as long as he pays real estate taxes and other expenses.

        Mr. Jewel, a neighbor who hired Pickett to do the payroll accounting at his floral shop, said the man was angry with the IRS.

        “I could tell he was aggravated by the tax system and the IRS sometimes,” he said.

        Betty Perry, who works in the same building where Mr. Pickett worked recently, said an attorney came by on Tuesday inquiring about Mr. Pickett, fearing he had disappeared.

        “I'm so stunned because he's a really nice man,” Ms. Perry said.

        Dana Northington, a neighbor, said he saw Mr. Pickett Tuesday as he pulled out of his garage about 4:30 p.m.

        Capt. Welcher said police looked for Mr. Pickett's car at Evansville airport, but didn't find it. He said police were looking for the car in Washington.
       

Gunman's letter to Enquirer described his despair
Read the letter: Photo image Text only
Evidence taken from gunman's home
Continuing coverage from Associated Press