FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Palm Beach Gardens police on Wednesday released the 911 call that former officer Nouman Raja placed last year in the shooting and killing of stranded motorist Corey Jones.
The call was released a month after Raja was arrested and charged in Jones' killing. The call, recorded Oct. 18, starts with Raja yelling for someone to put a gun down.
"I got one down. I just shot one person. I'm at the off ramp right behind DoubleTree. Black male," Raja tells the dispatcher.
The plainclothes officer tells the dispatcher, "I am not covered in anything right now."
He asks for more officers and says that one man "is down."
The dispatcher asks if he's OK, to which Raja replies, "I'm good, I'm good."
About 27 seconds into the recording, Raja continues to yell, saying "drop the g ... "
He tells the dispatcher he has lost sight of Jones and he doesn't know where Jones is. Raja says Jones was wearing all black and that he pointed a handgun at him before shooting Jones three to four times.
A second 911 recording also was released Wednesday, apparently of a guest at the nearby DoubleTree hotel. The person reports hearing gunshots outside the hotel and says she can see a man with a gun outside.
"There's a guy walking backwards, holding a gun," the woman says.
Another woman tells the caller the man is getting into a car but it's hard to see because of trees blocking her view.
The call ends with sirens as police arrive at the scene.
The shooting happened at about 3:15 a.m. after Jones' SUV broke down along Interstate 95 near PGA Boulevard. Jones, a drummer from Boynton Beach, was shot by Raja, who was patrolling the area after several burglaries.
Last month, Jones' close relatives and their lawyers expressed thanks that the 31-year-old stranded motorist's call to roadside assistance is now a key piece of evidence.
"We can never, ever, ever overstate the importance of that audiotape," attorney Benjamin Crump said, expressing confidence Raja, 38, one day will be convicted after a jury hears the recorded encounter.
