What I learned from transcribing all of the police and fire audio dispatch in the killing of Detective Sean Suiter Justine Barron Follow Nov 29, 2017 · 21 min read

Slain Detective Sean Suiter

By Justine Barron (@jewstein3000)

Amelia McDonell-Parry (@xoamelia) and Jasen Henderson (@suchaputz) contributed to this report.

The story of Homicide Detective Sean Suiter’s killing in Baltimore has some familiar elements to residents and people who have paid attention to Baltimore crime in the last few years. Most notably, there is a Police Commissioner, Kevin Davis, asking the public to suspend all curiosity around even the possibility that another police officer could’ve done anything wrong, when

The case hasn’t been investigated fully, so what’s with all the premature conclusions? The officer was killed under very mysterious circumstances, including being shot by his own gun. The officer was going to testify in federal court the next day about police officers who did about as much wrong as cops could possibly do, for years.

So it’s not totally inconceivable that another officer could be — at the very least — a “person of interest.” Instead, the Commissioner focused his manhunt on a “black male,” holding the entire neighborhood under siege with checkpoints for days.

I don’t know what happened to Suiter. I’m hearing different things, many on good authority. As one of the two people who led the investigation into the death of Freddie Gray for a podcast on the subject, I understand the importance of real-time collection and analysis of police data. So I’ve done as complete a transcription as I can for the available police and fire radio dispatch for the period around the Suiter shooting. I found it interesting. It might be of some use.

Here is a link to the full transcript and audio files, with some guidelines for how to read. Please contribute your insight and corrections through the comments below or via Twitter. I will add them to the document. This is a very early stage of work, not completed journalism. I am crowd-sourcing input.

INTERESTING, OFF, OR BUSINESS AS USUAL?

Now, I wish to point out a few things on the dispatch audio that struck me as interesting or odd. The entire transcript is a lot for lay people to consume, I’ve been told. So this is also a bit of a cheat sheet.

I’m not saying these are all indicative of conspiracy. I am happy to find out that they are innocuous. Some will help to clear up rumors and misinformation. I hope the investigators are looking into all of these matters, especially seeing as BPD is refusing to let the FBI or any outside agency help. I don’t hear one person on either side of the activist/cop divide that trusts Davis to lead this investigation properly, unfortunately.

(Update: Davis requested the FBI to take over the case on December 1. It’s not clear if they have or not.)

THE SHOOTING AND SUSPECT

We know that Suiter’s partner that day (identified as David Bomenka, not his usual partner) and/or another officer loaded Suiter into the car after he was shot and drove him away, supposedly headed to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma. They did this instead of waiting for a medic at the scene. The hospital was about four minutes away, so it may have been seen as a faster choice. As I learned researching the Freddie Gray case, there doesn’t seem to be a policy against this, and it happens sometimes. There are good reasons to call for a medic, including to stabilize the body and protect the crime scene. It depends on the type of injury also. Time is paramount for a gun shot wound.

The doctor at Shock Trauma that treated Suiter stated that nothing to do with his transport, including the car accident (described below), would have affected his condition. This sounds to me like he was effectively dead on arrival. So why did the officers drive off?

What I find interesting is sorting out who knew about or authorized the decision to take Suiter from the scene. Typically, police communicate a lot about their whereabouts among each other, their supervisors, and dispatch, especially after an incident as serious as a cop being shot.

Here’s the police dispatch audio no more than a minute after the dispatcher called a Signal 13 (“officer in distress”) on Suiter’s shooting at 4:37pm or 4:38pm. This audio is not entirely publicly available, on Broadcastify, but was recorded by a police scanner aficionado known as @suchaputz on Twitter (his audio feed was compressed so doesn’t have perfect timestamps). I’m sharing big chunks of some of these calls because they haven’t been shared yet by media, and I think they are interesting. This is from the Central District dispatch audio, I believe. It is not from the Western, where the shooting took place.

POLICE DISPATCH —Starts at about 4:38pm. DISPATCH: Responding 12, 10, 30, 42, 92 32 DISPATCH: Pants, dress jacket [unintelligible]. 10–4 Central city dispatch to the University of Maryland University of Maryland, did you need us on stand by? DISPATCH: At trauma, be advised, I’m going to have an officer, enroute to the location. 10–4. 10–4 officers- DISPATCH: 10–4 and also be advised 09 or [unintelligible] we’re gonna need to start shutting down some streets for the medic. 10–4. Enroute DISPATCH: 10–4. KGA [meaning dispatch] to 09 [meaning Lieutenant] 09 I’m enroute At 92 I’m enroute DISPATCH: 10–4. It’s gotta get [unintelligible]. Let’s go. 38 in [unintelligible] I’m enroute. DISPATCH: 10–4 [unintelligible] DISPATCH: 10–4 Gonna open up a path for the ambulance to come back to where we were [?] DISPATCH: 10–4 I’m gonna probably need one on the MLK side or I’m gonna need one on the Greenstreet side. I don’t know which way they’re coming. I get- I got other officers responding to the location. I’m also monitoring the Western and [unintelligible].

And then…

DISPATCH: Stand by the Western gotta come. We’re gonna have a situation in reference to the suspect. 10–6.

Well, I wasn’t clear if the dispatcher was referring to someone in that car as the “suspect” or back to the Bennett and Fremont shooting site. But she does that again later:

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:42pm DISPATCH: University of Maryland are you standing by? Standing by just trying to [unintelligible] 38 I’m headed over to shock trauma right now. DISPATCH: Guys we are going to have a situation in reference to the suspect. I just need a path straight to the door at trauma.

I don’t find dispatchers use such language casually. What “suspect”? What “situation” that is still going to happen?

So very quickly, this dispatcher (who is one of the charismatic stars of the dispatch audio) is working to get the car to Shock Trauma and to get officers there to help or maybe monitor the car. But she also doesn’t know which way the car is coming, and nobody is alerting her. The alternate audio feed provided by @suchaputz includes several minutes of her transmission uninterrupted. There is no communication from the officers transporting Suiter and no communication describing any interaction with them.

The other main characterof the dispatch audio is the lieutenant (I believe) who was overseeing the crime scene. He sounded a bit confused himself. Some of this audio was released publicly. It’s quite something when he first hears about what Suiter left behind:

POLICE DISPATCH — About 4:42–4:43pm Alright 31 be advised. I’m not sure what house we’re looking at but apparently there’s an armed person inside of, uh, Bennett Place. Our information is from the rear alley. We don’t know if it’s from a house or in the alley. 180. Hold on a second. Everybody kind of calm down for a minute. Can you please get together [??] on the scene? Do not stand on Bennett Place. Or, do not [unintelligible] Bennett Place. Do not come down Bennett Place. Charlie 14 do you have any crime scene tape.

And then…

180 give me the air. We do not know where these shots came from. We have officers in bad locations. Let’s everybody take cover somewhere. Okay? Get away from them windows, where you’re standing there at the mouth of that alley. Because we don’t know where the shots came from. Everybody get covered until we figure this out please. Foxtrot [helicopters]. If you can do me a favor when you get here — Or, I think it’s NPA police helicopters, whoever that is above us. Please give us an idea of where we can set up. Because we can’t see. We have too many people close. Krauss, did you see any casings in that alley. KRAUSS: Nobody’s been in the alley yet. Nobody’s been in the alley yet. Krauss, we’re gonna need the top end of Schroder blocked off. It’s gonna be in the rear alley. Bennett place and Schroeder. Edmonson and block off Schroeder southbound. 31 to Krauss Standby 46 standby Did you see any casings where you were in the alley? 10–47. Somebody say there is a possible weapon right here though. Officers gun and officer’s radio is back there. 10–9 The officer’s weapon and the officers radio is back there where he got hit. 43 I got eyes on the radio and possibly, uh, his departmental [service weapon]. Yes, that appears to be his departmental. 703 Alright. 180 to 703 We do have the officer’s radio and weapon in sight. We still do not know where the shots came from and we do not have the, uh, shell casings yet.

He is communicating with the Western District dispatcher (703). This incident took place near where three districts intersect, by the way. Many minutes later, and still not much more clarity:

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:50pm 09 Yes sir. DISPATCH: See I know we got a lot going on down there, but can you advise me what units- what units do we have 10–8 that are still here in the district. We still have a possible armed perp here in this house [?]. If you want a dedicated channel, so we can keep the air clear. DISPATCH: Yep. 09 10–4. Uh, lemme speak with 703. He’s down there. I’ll see if he can dedicate a channel. 10–4. 10–57 [unintelligible] 23 I know you’re busy. Where you at in looking for a suspect? You guys still think he’s in the area? What’s the 36? [36=information] No 36 Officer was not able to speak on where it came from. We don’t know if it was on foot, in the rear alley, or from one of the houses near the window. We’re not sure. No 10–36. 10–4

Commissioner Davis later said that the shots came from close range. They were also heard on the radio.

So, from this audio at least, it seems like there wasn’t too much communication between the officers that took Suiter away to the hospital and the officers who arrived at the scene. I don’t just mean about where the shots came from; they may not have known. I mean about anything. I could be wrong, but this is how it reads and sounds. So I’m asking.

It might also have been everything happening too fast, the shooting and then a car accident, or this is just missing audio. One reporter told me that she didn’t hear the usual frenetic hubbub surrounding a police shooting. It sounded “odd.”

At the least, fire and rescue weren’t clear. To my knowledge, none of the fire dispatch audio has been analyzed yet by reporters, and I find it worthwhile.

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:40pm Truck 10, ambo [“ambulance”] 30 to the unit 3. Respond Bennett Place at Fremont avenue. Report a shooting. Officers involved. Truck 10. EMS 3. Ambo 32 respond 8–30 Bennett Place at Fremont Ave. Reported shooting. Officer involved. 8–30.

We know that no medics met Suiter at the alleged scene of the shooting, on Bennett and Fremont. Either the officers who drove Suiter to the hospital were still at the scene at 4:40pm, a couple of minutes after the signal 13, while a medic truck headed over — and then chose to leave before it arrived — or the medics didn’t know that the officers had already left. The timing of the shooting and of the officers heading to the hospital hasn’t been cleared up. Granted fire and police don’t always communicate perfectly.

So how long were the officers at the scene after the shooting before going to the hospital, and whom did they tell they were going and when?

THE MISSING CALLS AND TIMESTAMPS

This has been discussed a bit online. Commissioner Davis has admitted there are a few seconds where you can hear Detective Suiter on the audio and shots fired. This call isn’t on any of the audio available so far.

Davis has also said that Suiter’s partner that day made a call to 911 to report the shooting. That call isn’t on the Open Source list of 911 calls, though it could have been redacted or just missing from that database. It’s not clear from dispatch that it was a call to 911. Here’s what the dispatcher actually said:

DISPATCH: Get [??] y’all, let’s go. Bennett and Fremont. For the Signal 13. Call reported that the partner got shot. No description. No further.

Just a call, not a 911 call. I wonder if Suiter’s partner, in this case, called the dispatcher on his cell — or called someone on his cell, who radioed in. This came up after Freddie Gray was arrested: Lieutenant Brian Rice asked the dispatcher if he could call her on his cell. She said that the call would also be recorded.

All that we know about this call was that the officer described himself as “off-duty” — that is, didn’t give an ID number. Was Bomenka off-duty?

Note that police say the shooting happened “about 4:30pm.” That’s at least seven minutes before dispatch called the “Signal 13" (“officer in distress”). No time has been given for the 911/other call.

Commissioner Davis should have more exact times they could release. We noticed this also with the public release of information around the arrest of Freddie Gray: some encounters would be timed to the second; some would be entirely general; all were heard by investigators on dispatch.

Also note that no description was provided on the dispatch audio of the shooter at the scene. Davis said the partner later mentioned a “black male” — wearing a black jacket with a white stripe. This was used to justify a community lockdown and manhunt for days.

If Davis’ investigation proves that he was wrong — that the shooter was an officer, Suiter himself, or someone else related to his federal court testimony— I’m worried that he won’t reveal the truth because of his previous public statements and actions, focusing on the black male. He may want to save face and/or avoid lawsuits.

THE OTHER SIGNAL 13

The first published dispatch call about Suiter’s shooting at the corner of Bennett Place and North Fremont Ave in the Western District, was a “Signal 13,” meaning an officer was in distress. Signal 13s are very high ranking in priority. Officers that are available are supposed to head to the scene. Here’s the transcript excerpt:

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:38pm in our file (noted as 4:37pm in the press) DISPATCH: Signal 13 signal 13 Bennett and Fremont, Bennett and Fremont for the Signal 13 in the Central 42. I’m gonna head to that. What you got there? DISPATCH: Get [?] y’all, let’s go. Bennett and Fremont. For the Signal 13. Call reported that the partner got shot. No description. No further. Alright 32 leaving the station. DISPATCH: Be advised in reference to the Signal 13. Be advised in reference to the Signal 13. It says, call reported that his partner got shot. No description of the suspect. No further. Be advised. It came in with a name. It said “off-duty.” Let’s go. Yeah, 31. You can put me in there as well 22, enroute

And then…

Do you have a cross street? DISPATCH: Bennett and Fremont. Bennett and Fremont for the 13. It’s the low end of Fremont right before MLK. [Martin Luther King Blvd.] DISPATCH: Be advised It’s a plainclothes officer in reference.

After this, calls related to this Signal 13 dominated the airwaves for awhile. What hasn’t been discussed as much is that just minutes before this call, another signal 13 was put out, in the Southwestern District, but less than 2 miles away from this call. Bear with me while we work backwards in time….

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:35pm DISPATCH: Signal 13, signal 13 Frederick and Pulaski, Frederick and Pulaski for 954 in the Southern 34 is coming

The call in for this signal seems to have been picked up by the scanner briefly, less than a minute before:

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:34pm [unintelligible — some breathing, noise] Hello Yah [unintelligible] DISPATCH: 954 what’s the location, what’s the 20?

It was rumored and reported that this might be audio of Suiter after he was shot. It sounds maybe like someone in distress. But T.J. Smith, BPD spokesman, answered that this wasn’t that call. Anyway, the call mentions 954, which is the reference for this first Signal 13. So it’s tied to Frederick and Pulaski not Bennett and Fremont.

Then, just a minute after this first Signal 13 was issued, at Frederick and Pulaski, it was cancelled:

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:36pm DISPATCH: 10–32 10–32 Signal 13 at Frederick and Pulaski per [?] 971 in the Southern, KGA time 16:36 Hours. [unintelligible] we can talk about it at the station

“10–32” means sufficient units on scene. So whatever happened to whichever officer at that intersection, this Signal 13 was no longer needed. Then one or two minutes later, a mile and a half to the northeast, another Signal 13 was broadcast for Suiter’s shooting.

It’s not so bizarre to imagine that two officers are in distress within minutes and less than two miles apart and that the first one was a false alarm or resolved quickly. Someone well-sourced told me the first signal 13 was issued by MTA. There is a bus stop on that corner, but no train station where MTA police would be working, so this is curious.

In Open Source Baltimore, under 911 Calls for Service, there is an incident that some have thought was related to this first signal 13. It’s a fire on Pulaski not far from Frederick, around that time:

Actually, that’s not the location or incident of the first Signal 13; Frederick is more than 3 blocks from the 300 block of Pulaski. In fact, the call listed in Open Source never went to police but it is heard all over the fire dispatch audio. So at least, I want to clear that up. Going back further in time, now before the first Signal 13:

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:30pm [Unintelligible] on 14 dash 70 operations on fireground 1. Engine 14 engine 55 engine 30 [unintelligible] Engine 8 engine 23 truck 23 truck 8. Rescue 1 medic 4 [unintelligible] for a response. 300 block of South Pulaski St off of McHenry and Wilheim Street reported. Dwelling fire. That’s box alarm 14–70 operation [unintelligible]. Fireground 1. Engine 14 engine 55 engine 30 [unintelligible] engine 8 engine 23 chop 23 chop 8. Rescue 1 medic 4 [unintelligible] for a response. 300 block of South Pulaski Street off of McHenry and Wilheim Street. This was a dwelling fire. 16:30.

Fire dispatch is even harder to make out than police.

So at 4:30pm, a call was made for a dwelling fire at the 300 block of South Pulaski. A bunch of trucks, medics, and choppers (“chops”) were called, but police weren’t notified. A minute later, someone went to investigate but didn’t see anything:

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:31pm Dash 14 picking up [unintelligible] at McHenry and Pulaski Dash 14 I’m at the 300 block. I don’t have anything showing. We’ll be investigating. Make 14 command. DISPATCH: False alarm 14 [unintelligible] injured 14’s on the scene. Is nothing showing at this time. 14 engine 14 will have command will investigate at 16:31 Report [unintelligible]. 14 is fine.

A bit unclear, granted, but it sounds like engine 14 didn’t see anything. Not sure about “injured” but this seems to be a “false alarm” so far, though 14 will investigate. Engine 14 continued to report on this incident:

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:32pm Command, there were 4 to 5 civilians said somebody’s working on the roof. I’ll be investigating. DISPATCH: [Unintelligible] 14. I need command advisers. Citizen told there is someone working on a roof. He will be investigating. 16:32.

This soon becomes not so much about a dwelling fire, but about something on a roof:

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:33pm [Unintelligible] coming in remain uncommitted. I’ll be investigating with truck 23, the roof call. 326 at Pulaski. Agent 14 advise. Agent 14 truck 23 will be investigating 326 South Pulaski.

Just as the first Signal 13, three blocks north, is being called and cancelled, the other incident on the 300 block of Pulaski went on:

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:40pm Cash 14. Want you to corrected the location of 332 S Pulaski Street. We have workers working on the roof with a torch. 14 and [unintelligible] has occurred and I’m the last one on the scene. 332 South Pulaski? That is correct. 16:40.

This call moves the unknown roof situation from 326 to 332, very closeby, and transfers its handling from truck 14 to 23. Now the fire department seems to have its own workers on the roof, using a device known as a cutting torch. It doesn’t sound like a dwelling fire, though it’s hard to know for sure.

That is the last we heard of the incident in the 300s of Pulaski. Several minutes later, there is mention again of an incident at the location of the first (cancelled) Signal 13:

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:43pm 35 respond 14–70. Frederick and Pulaski. For a sick case. Ambo 35 respond. Locked area 14–70. Frederick avenue S Pulaski St. for a sick case. 16:43

A call for a sick person back at the scene of the Signal 13, four minutes later. Might be totally unrelated.

So… big picture. We have a few incidents here, all within about five minutes:

A call for a fire at 324/335 Pulaski, which later got amended to a false alarm and then some situation on a roof, unclear, in the Southwest District. This was sent to the fire department and never involved police.

A Signal 13, indicating an officer in distress, a few blocks north, on Pulaski and Frederick, which was very quickly cancelled. This didn’t seem to involve the fire department, until maybe later, with a call in for a sick person at that location.

Just before — or just as — that Signal 13 goes out and is cancelled, there was a shooting of an officer, with his own gun, less than two miles north in the Western District.

That’s a series of calls that redirected almost all available police and fire resources just out of the district, exactly as Suiter was supposedly shot, for what seem like false alarms.

So these all might have been totally unrelated situations. Or, some of them might be related. Most cynically, maybe one or more calls were made to draw Western District officers right across district lines to the Southwest District to distract from something terrible about to happen.

I have no idea. But if I were investigating the shooting of an officer with his own gun — an officer who was set to testify against at least one other officer who was part of a gang of criminal officers, a shooting after which officers left the scene immediately with the body — I would at least look into these calls. I would want to know what happened on a roof, and I would want to know why an earlier signal 13 was called and cancelled. At the least, I would want to rule them out as suspicious.

THE ANONYMOUS CALL

This is another unusual sounding call that came in a few minutes after the shooting.

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:41pm DISPATCH: Alright I have an investigate. Shipley and Fairmont. Shipley Street and Fairmount. Caller reporting two suspects are wanted for a homicide of an unknown subject. Caller states he’s undercover. Suspects are two number 1 [black] males going to an unknown house. I have no further, no call back. Anonymous. 10–4.

For the conspiracy-minded, this call is less problematic since it happens several minutes after the shooting. But I thought it was interesting. I asked a few retired officers about it. Two suggested that it didn’t sound like it would’ve come from an actual Undercover Officer, but they couldn’t be sure. One also suggested that this was a homicide being referenced and it would be “malpractice” not to make sure that it was investigated. It was suggested that the Computer-Assisted Dispatch (CAD) report would be illuminating, as for all of these calls. My podcast partner Amelia McDonell-Parry is requesting them from BPD.

THE ACCIDENT AND THE MEDICS

As has been reported, the officer driving Suiter to the hospital was engaged in a multi-car accident on the way there. It seems to have involved pedestrians and a University of Maryland officer too. There definitely seems to have been some confusion about what to do with the medics and where to send them:

POLICE DISPATCH — 4:49pm Charles 42 Is there a victim somewhere? We have a medic here. They advised there is another victim. [Supervisor on scene of shooting:] No victim on scene. They already took him to shock trauma. Only one victim, he’s gone. Yes, [unintelligible], they’re aware. They advised me of a second. Not here on our crime scene. There’s not one down here, no.

The supervisor sounds annoyed. The first time I read this I had flashbacks to stop 5 in the arrest of Freddie Gray: After the van transporting Gray pulled off headed back to the station, a medic truck pulled up and behaved as if it had been called in relation to Gray’s injury. Police would later argue that he wasn’t injured yet.

In this case, I figured out that this medic was calling into the crime scene but had been referred to the accident scene. This is again from the alternate file provided by @suchaputz:

POLICE DISPATCH — No time available (@suchaputz’s files are compressed) University of Maryland 10–58. DISPATCH: You see them cops? Enroute to Shock Trauma DISPATCH: Go ahead responding to the 800 block [unintelligible] MLK [unintelligible] DISPATCH: University of Maryland [unintelligible] Shock Trauma DISPATCH: Go ahead with the officers at 700 block of Baltimore It’s actually in the intersection of MLK and Baltimore [sirens] DISPATCH: Alright then [unintelligible] Baker 41 University of Maryland, car struck [unintelligible] DISPATCH: Do we- Was the officer injured also? Checking for you. Accident [unintelligible] [unintelligible] 41. Where is the injured officer. On the way to the hospital? Pursuant [?] [Unintelligible] [Unintelligible] be advised. It’s 10–23. [unintelligible]

Then just a bit later:

DISPATCH: 10–4 Is the University of Maryland officer okay? [unintelligible] DISPATCH: Alright. Let me know what’s going on. 22 here. University of Maryland [unintelligible] DISPATCH: 10–4 He needs a medic also. Yeah. Can we get a medic as well for the University of Maryland officer. Medic. Get this blocked off.

And then…

DISPATCH:10–4 Foxtrot Eddie gonna need to move. We have a situation over there, in reference to the 13. [unintelligible] DISPATCH: 10–4 22 One of the vehicles is here, pedestrians, two number 2 females, [unintelligible] injuries. We have medics [unintelligible] DISPATCH: alright 10–4. Call a medic for her. [unintelligible] partner who called this in. [unintelligible] switch to the C channel for me please. 10–4 [unintelligible]. 6 Charlie switching off Central.

So there’s a “situation,” or accident, “in reference to the 13,” meaning the signal 13. The dispatcher asks a helicopter (“foxtrot”) for input. They switch to another channel to discuss. WBAL first reported this accident. It sounds like there were many injuries. And it seems like the accident may have happened earlier than reported, as follows…

THE MISSING MEDIC

“Ambo 32,” for ambulance, made its first appearance around the second Signal 13 (the Suiter shooting):

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:40pm Truck 10, ambo 30, to the unit 3. Respond Bennett Place at Fremont avenue. Report a shooting. Officers involved. Truck 10. EMS 3. ambo 32 respond 8–30 Bennett Place at Fremont Ave. Reported shooting. Officer involved. 8–30.

So ambulance 32 was originally called to the scene of the shooting. Then…

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:40pm DISPATCH: Communication ambo 36. Ambo 36. Ambo 32, ambo 32 you’re in service ambo 32. Engine 41 Yes. Is BGE on the way? We have a broken line outside. Stand by one moment. DISPATCH: 36. ambo 36. ambo 3- DISPATCH: Ambo 36 ambo 36. Engine 41 you said you need BGE? That’s affirmative. We have a broken line outside. Engine 42. DISPATCH: 36 Ambo 36 DISPATCH: Alright If you’re in the area, I need you down by Bennett and Fremont avenue. Officer involved shooting. If you’re in the vicinity. Bennett Place and Fremont ave. 36 copy sending over.

Ambo 36 is called to the shooting scene instead. Ambo 32 hasn’t answered yet. Then…

FIRE DISPATCH — 4:41pm Ambo 32 ambo 32. Go in service. ambo 32. EMS 3 EMS 3 try in route. [Unintelligible] officer located somewhere on Fremont Avenue. In a vehicle patrol car. 32 go in service ambo 32. Truck 29. We can handle a [unintelligible]. Alright message received EMS 5 you can go in service EMS 5. Go in service ambo 32. Ambo 32 just advise continue in if you can locate the officer. Ambo 35 respond At MLK and Baltimore [just at the scene of accident]

Note that WBAL reported the accident at 4:45, but the car seems to be right at the scene four minutes earlier. Fire dispatch times are announced. WBAL’s timeline gives the car eight minutes of driving, when the hospital is about four minutes away. I think it all happened much faster.

4:44pm Communication to ambo 32- 4:45pm Ambo 32 ambo 32 Ambo 32 4:46pm Ambo 32 ambo 32. Ambo 32 ambo 32. 4:47pm Engine 23 respond. Hold 30. Ambo 32. 4:48pm Engine 23 respond stand by for Ambo 32. 800 block of w Baltimore st. Report a vehicle accident. [Unintelligible] Engine 23 respond 800 block of W Baltimore St. Stand by for a medic injured officer involved 16:48. 4:49pm Ambo 32, ambo 32 Truck says [unintelligible] station off the air. 15–15.

That is nine minutes of calling out to the ambulance first sent to the shooting scene, and it doesn’t seem to have responded. I have no idea, but I would investigate this, if I were investigating this case. It could just be someone asleep at the wheel. Or it could be something! The medics involved in Freddie Gray’s arrest did not tell everything to investigators that is visible on CCTV, for example.

SUMMARY THOUGHTS FOR NOW

It’s hard to know what will be significant. At this point, I’m personally most struck by the communication around the officers leaving the scene of the shooting with the body, with such minimal apparent conversation and which resulted in what seems like a not insignificant accident. It also left behind supervisors and dispatchers with little idea what happened. But I don’t know.

From my experience looking at the Freddie Gray case a year later, there’s an easy reflex on the part of many journalists to accept explanations or evidence given and toss out anything that doesn’t immediately bear obvious fruit. This kind of work takes hours upon hours. We found it productive in that case, over a year later, after much of the evidence was destroyed. We have a great opportunity here.

A retired cop described to me series of odd events over ten minutes of police and fire dispatch as “Classic Baltimore.” Another retired cop seemed alarmed by some of this. Both would like to see the FBI intervene.