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DALLAS — Moments after an off-duty Dallas police officer shot and killed a man in his own apartment, firefighters were dispatched to the complex for a shooting by a security guard, not a police officer, according to hours of audio reviewed by this news agency, further clouding what Amber Guyger or witnesses may have initially told police last week.
“We now have you assigned to a gunshot,” a Dallas Fire Department dispatcher said over the radio to Rescue 4 at 10:02 p.m. Thursday. “A security guard just shot the patient, so go ahead and stand by.”
An arrest warrant affidavit for Guyger, 30, a four-year veteran of the department, alleges that she immediately called 911 after she shot Botham Jean once in the torso in his apartment at 9:59 p.m., mortally wounding him. What is unclear is how the call for medical help just three minutes later misidentified the shooter as a security guard.
Jean family attorney Lee Merritt did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Dallas police referred information requests to the Texas Rangers, who said all inquiries must go through the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department referred questions to investigators. Kimberlee Leach, a spokeswoman with the DA’s office, said due to the ongoing investigation her office could not comment “to protect the integrity of the case.”
A call to the Dallas Police Association, the officer’s union, referred media inquiries to a public relations firm.
“The DPA is withholding any public comments on the incident until all the facts are known and the investigation is complete,” Brian Mayes of Mayes Media Group said. “You might try the Dallas Police Department for additional updates.”
Guyger was initially arrested, then charged with manslaughter three days after killing the 26-year-old Jean. She quickly posted bail, but now a grand jury will decide what exact charges she might face.
Her arrest warrant alleges that Guyger thought she was entering her own apartment Thursday night, but she was actually directly one floor above. Police said when she tried to insert her key into the door, which was already slightly ajar, the door fully opened.
Guyger, who was still dressed in her police uniform, saw a “large silhouette” in the darkened apartment and thought it was a burglar, according to the warrant.
“Guyger drew her firearm, gave verbal commands that were ignored by … Jean,” according to the warrant. “Guyger fired her handgun two times striking [Jean] in the torso. Guyger entered the apartment, immediately called 911, requesting police and EMS, and provided first aid to … Jean.
“Due to the interior darkness of the apartment, Guyger turned on the interior lights while on the phone with 911. Upon being asked where she was located by emergency dispatchers, Guyger returned to the front door to observe the address and discovered she was at the wrong apartment,” according to the arrest warrant.
The 911 call has not been released.
Jean’s family attorneys have disputed Guyger’s account portrayed in the arrest warrant, telling ABC News it was “highly implausible.”
Merritt told ABC News that independent witnesses residing in the South Side Flats apartment complex in Dallas heard the officer pounding on Jean’s door and demanding to be let in.
“The contradictions begin to build from there,” he said.
Merritt told the television station that Jean would not leave his door ajar. Fellow attorney Benjamin Crump also questioned why she shot at a darkened silhouette without knowing anything about who the figure was.
Attorney Daryl Washington, who also is representing the Jean family, told ABC News that Guyger’s story has other inconsistencies.
“From the fact that when you look at an affidavit and I’m thinking that I’m at my house and I call 911 because someone was just shot,” he said. “Well, the very first thing that I’m going to do is I’m not going to go outside and look at my address. I’m going to give them my address right there on the phone. I’m going to say I’m on the phone. My address is this. Why did she have to go outside to verify the address? It makes no sense whatsoever.”
Crump told the news station one witness heard a male voice say: “Oh my God, why did you do this?” He said it was likely Jean’s final words.
