Mar 5, 2008 10:03 pm US/Eastern
911 Calls From Bell Shooting Heard In Court
Transcript Reveals Confusion, Hesitation Among Officers
QUEENS (CBS) ―
For the first time in the Sean Bell trial, tapes of one of the 911 calls made the night the groom died in a hail of police bullets were disclosed. The tape was released in court as the trial continues for the three police detectives charged in connection with the killing of unarmed Bell outside a Queens nightclub.
The frantic voice on the other end of the 911 call is NYPD Det. Hispolito Sanchez, only moments after his fellow undercover officers opened fire into Bell's car, killing him and injuring two others.
*Sanchez: "We're at 143. We're on the corner. I'm an undercover police officer. There were shots fired. Shots fired."
*Operator: "Where? What location? What's the address?"
*Sanchez: "They're putting it over the radio right now. Around the corner from Kalua's Strip Club."
He then tells the 911 operator to send a bus, a police term for an ambulance.
*Sanchez: "Call a bus, call a bus."
*Operator: "You say you need a bus, you need a bus for what? Who's injured?"
*Sanchez: "I need a bus for shots fired."
*Operator: "Shots fired but who's injured?"
*Sanchez: "We've got two perps shot."
*Operator: "You have two perps shot but give me an address sir. Two perps shot where?"
Sanchez screams to fellow undercover officer Michael Oliver for help with the location.
*Sanchez: "Mike, Mike…What's the address?"
Moments later several uniformed officers arrived on the scene along with paramedics. Both Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield were shot several times and survived. Bell died on what would have been his wedding day.
On Tuesday, Sanchez took the stand, testifying he was around the corner from where the shooting occurred. He also said he heard the officers shout commands, but did not hear them say that they were police officers.
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