‘I just shot him’: 911 caller reports shooting his son at North Hills shopping center
The first person to call 911 about a non-fatal shooting Sunday at the North Hills shopping center was the shooter himself, according to 911 calls.
“I just shot him,” the caller said frantically while on the phone with a 911 operator.
The caller said he had shot his son, who he said was trying to assault him and his wife.
The shooting on Nov. 27 drew a swarm of police to North Hills around 7:30 p.m., frightening holiday shoppers and leaving one man hospitalized with non-fatal injuries. The shooting took place near the Regal movie theater in the Main District, a central gathering spot in the shopping complex on Six Forks Road.
The Raleigh Police Department has not identified the men but said they knew each other. No arrests have been made, and no update has been provided on the condition of the man who was shot.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said she is reviewing whether the case should result in any charges.
“There is some ongoing investigation,” Freeman told The News & Observer in a text message Friday “Preliminary evidence suggests it may be self defense.”
‘I have the gun in my hand’
In 911 calls released Wednesday, a man calls at 7:20 p.m. requesting police at North Hills and reporting that he is being assaulted by another man, whom he describes as 19 or 20 years old, and says is his son.
Just over a minute into the call, a physical altercation and yells are heard over the phone, and the caller starts to frantically ask for emergency responders.
Then, he says he shot him.
“I just shot him... he just shot himself — I shot him,” the caller says. “He was trying to hurt me.”
The caller says “sit down!” repeatedly while on the phone and appears to tell his wife to treat the wound on the person he shot.
“I have the gun in my hand,” the caller says when the 911 operator asks for the location of the gun.
The caller says he will put it in his car before responders arrive. He describes what he i wearing in the call so that he can be identified.
He tells the 911 operator that the man shot is conscious and breathing, saying that he shot him once in the stomach.
Toward the end of the call, the man tells the operator that police have arrived and says his son “was trying to assault me and my wife.”
How witnesses reacted to shooting
Retail employees from different businesses at North Hills frantically called 911 after hearing gunshots.
At 7:22 p.m., an employee at Ben & Jerry’s reported hearing something that sounded like a gunshot and a physical altercation outside of the movie theater.
Another 911 call was made by a frightened employee locked in the back room of Anthropologie with two other coworkers, who called to report the shooting.
She said she saw and heard two women screaming outside the store and described whom she believed was the shooter.
The caller said she heard “a guy yelling at people to get down” and heard a gunshot outside her store.
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This story was originally published November 30, 2022 at 7:44 PM with the headline "‘I just shot him’: 911 caller reports shooting his son at North Hills shopping center."
