Feb 18, 2009 9:37 am US/Eastern
9-1-1 HORROR: Chimp Owner's Shocking Call
Sandra Herold's Chilling Words To Dispatcher: "He's Killing Our Girlfriend! You Got To Kill This Chimp!"
Stamford Cops Estimate Attack On Woman Lasted 12 Minutes
STAMFORD, Conn. (CBS) ―
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When he died, Travis the chimp was 200 pounds. Here he is much younger. On Tuesday night, CBS 2 HD gained access to chilling 9-1-1 audio on the day of the brutal attack.
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The calls for help are horrifying.
A woman in total despair watched in stunning anguish as her beloved pet chimpanzee went on a rampage -- right before her eyes.
CBS 2 HD gained access to the 9-1-1 tapes on Tuesday evening.
"Send the police, send the police," Sandy Herold told a dispatcher on Monday. "You've got to kill this chimp."
With a raging chimpanzee clearly heard in the background, the distress in the call for help is shocking.
"Send the police with a gun. Please hurry up. He's killing my girlfriend," Herold yelled.
Herold, the chimp's owner, was trying desperately to rescue her friend Charla Nash, who was being attacked by a 200-pound pet chimp. At first the dispatcher is unclear on what's going on:
911 Dispatcher: "What's the problem?"
Herold: "He's killing my friend."
911 Dispatcher: "Who's killing your friend?'"
Herold: "My chimpanzee."
The gruesome attack took place Monday on Herold's sprawling Stamford yard, where her longtime friend had come to visit and who was now defenseless while under a vicious attack.
"We estimate the attack could have been 12 minutes long," Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin said.
The tiny Herold tried stabbing her pet and then used a shovel, but it did little to stop the out-of-control chimp from having his way with Nash.
"Please hurry, please God, oh please," Herold told the dispatcher. "Please have them come faster. Please (cries)."
Police arrived within five minutes. Travis the chimp was shot several times minutes later by an officer he had trapped in a squad car. The mortally wounded animal limped back into the home, went into his cage, and died.
Shirley Yurkovic is a next-door neighbor to Nash, the victim now fighting to stay alive.
"She's a very nice lady. She looked like she'd give you her shirt off her back," Yurkovic said, adding Nash was always nice, always "friendly, always hello to everyone."
Police are investigating why the chimp went berserk and are looking at the animal's Lyme disease and that Nash changed her look.
"From what I understand she had her hair dyed," said friend. "Perhaps Travis didn't realize it was her. Travis was very protective of Sandy, very protective."
Police said the animal will now be tested for rabies and a necropsy will be done, all in an effort to determine why this chimp went on the rampage he did.
On Tuesday, Connecticut state officials admitted that under a 2004 law, Herold needed a special permit to keep Travis but they gave her an exemption -- in part because they didn't consider the chimp a threat to public safety.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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