The former Dallas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in his own home told a 911 dispatcher “I thought it was my apartment” nearly 20 times as she waited for emergency responders to arrive, according to a 911 recording obtained by a Dallas TV station.
“I’m an off-duty officer. I thought I was in my apartment and I shot a guy thinking he was, thinking it was my apartment,” Amber Guyger said in the recording obtained by WFAA. She later says, “I’m f—d. Oh my God. I’m sorry.”
Guyger, who is white, is charged in the September 2018 killing of Botham Jean and is set to go to trial later this year. She has said she entered Jean’s apartment thinking it was her own, and fatally shot him. Guyger was later fired, and Jean’s family has filed a lawsuit against Guyger and the city of Dallas.
On the call, Guyger can be heard apologizing and talking to Jean, a 26-year-old native of the Caribbean island of St. Lucia who worked in Dallas for an accounting and consulting firm. She repeatedly says, “Hey man,” and “Hey, bud.”
WFAA hasn’t said how it obtained the recording. The Dallas Police Department didn’t immediately respond to requests from CBS News and the Associated Press Tuesday morning seeking verification of the recording.
Attorney Daryl Washington, who is representing Jean’s family, noted that Guyger did not tell the 911 operator she was afraid of Jean or that she thought he was an intruder.
“There was nothing in that video or the recording where she ever indicated she thought Botham was trying to harm her,” Washington told WFAA. “She was very fast to shoot without asking very many questions.”
Guyger sounded frantic during the nearly six-minute call. She said both “I’m gonna lose my job” and “I am going to need a supervisor.” At one point, she seems to question how she ended up in Jean’s apartment and says, “I’m so tired.”
The call ends as police officers arrive and Guyger tells them, “No, it’s me. I’m off duty, I’m off duty.”
