A white police officer in Dallas told a police dispatcher that she shot her unarmed black neighbor in his own home, repeating 19 times on a 911 call that she mistakenly “thought it was my apartment.”
Amber Guyger, who is facing a murder charge in the September shooting of Botham Jean, is heard asking a dispatcher for police assistance and paramedics on the nearly six-minute recording, which was obtained late Monday by WFAA.
“I’m an off-duty officer, I thought I was in my apartment,” Guyger, 30, frantically told the dispatcher. “And I shot a guy thinking that he was, thinking it was my apartment.”
“You shot someone?” the dispatcher replied.
“Yes, I thought it was my apartment,” Guyer continued. “I’m f–ked!”
Guyger said a total of 19 times on the recording that she mistook Jean’s apartment for hers. She shot Jean — a 26-year-old native of St. Lucia who worked for accounting and consulting firm PwC — after finishing a nearly 14-hour shift, WFAA reports, although police officials have refused to release records of exactly how many hours she worked in the week prior to the shooting.
Guyger — who lived on the third floor, directly below Jean — has said she parked on the fourth floor at her apartment complex and shot Jean after thinking he was an intruder, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the station.
At one point, Guyger apologized for the shooting and told the dispatcher that she was going to need a police supervisor. She is also heard talking directly to Jean, repeatedly saying “Hey, bud” in an apparent attempt to revive him.
Guyger also repeated “I thought it was my apartment” four consecutive times at another point in the call.
“Oh my God,” Guyger said. “I’m done.”
Guyger also questioned how she ended up in Jean’s apartment.
“How did … how did I,” Guyger said. “I’m so tired.”
Guyger was fired by Dallas police following the shooting, which occurred while Jean was watching football on the couch, the Dallas Morning News reports. She was later indicted on a murder charge and her trial is expected to begin in September.
The city of Dallas refused to release a copy of the 911 call weeks after the shooting, according to the newspaper. A city attorney said Dallas police and the Dallas County district attorney’s office had asked prosecutors to allow them to withhold the recording.
In a statement to The Post, the Dallas Police Department said it did not release the 911 call to WFAA and an internal investigation has been launched.
