SEATTLE – The 911 callers, some of them hiding inside the house where Aaron Kyle Huff went on a murderous rampage, pleaded with police operators to send help quickly.
Seattle police have released audio tapes of the frightened and confused callers who dialed for aid last weekend when Huff’s shooting spree killed six people. He then fatally shot himself when confronted by a police officer.
“Listen to me, quickly, I need the police department,” William Lowe, who lives across the street from the crime scene, told police in one call.
“Gunshots, gunshots, gunshots,” a different caller said. “I’m on 22nd and East Republican on Capitol Hill and people are screaming and I keep hearing firing of a weapon.”
Just after 7 a.m. on March 25, Huff opened fire at the house where young people had gathered to party after a zombie-themed rave, or dance party, called “Better Off Undead.”
Police have yet to determine a motive for the crime, but said Friday they are making progress on gleaning information from Huff’s computer.
According to a search warrant, witnesses said Huff, 28, had a look of contentment on his face – almost a smile – as he fired off rounds from a pistol-grip shotgun and a semiautomatic handgun. In addition to the dead, two people were wounded.
The King County medical examiner identified the dead as: Melissa Lynn Moore, 14; Suzanne Thorne, 15; Christopher Williamson, 21; Justin Schwartz, 22; Jeremy Martin, 26; and Jason Travers, 32.
On the 911 tape, Lowe told the operator he could see the gunman leaving the house.
“Ooh, he just shot himself in the face,” Lowe said. “The man with the shotgun stepped out of the door and just put the gun to his face and shot himself.”
Other calls released late Thursday reported the terror of people inside the house.
One faint female voice called in to report shots fired and people injured.
The 911 operator asked if the caller could see the gunman.
“I’m afraid to look,” she said.
The dispatcher asked, “Can you just say yes or no, are you in the room with the person?”
“Yes, maybe,” the caller whispered.
Another caller, one of the roommates in the shared rental home, hid in the basement with two other men during his call to 911.
“There’s at least four or five people that are shot … at least,” he said. He told the operator he could hear more shots.
The operator told him not to move, to stay where he was.
On the tape, the operator can be heard saying, “Oh my gosh.”
The call continued until police could be heard going through the house.
“Drop the phone,” police told the caller. “Everybody, hands on top of your head.”
A different young man called while hiding in a locked bathroom with his girlfriend.
“We’re hiding in the bathtub upstairs,” he said. “I mean, he shot a bullet into the bathroom.”
It took about 15 minutes from the first calls to 911 until police secured the scene. But police said it may take years to piece together Huff’s motives.
On Friday, police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said forensic experts have been able to work around viruses on Huff’s computer.
“We have circumvented the viruses and are sifting through the information that’s on there to see if there are any indicators to give us any insight into what might have led up to these terrible events,” Whitcomb said.
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