Audiotapes from the night a Charleston Police officer was shot and killed confirm much of the information police have already released.
Police say Patrolman Jerry Jones was killed in that friendly fire incident in the early morning hours of Sunday September 13th. Brian Good of Big Chimney, the man police say was being pursued in the tapes, was also shot and killed.
The Kanawha County Metro 911 tapes contain eyewitness of accounts of the chase coming in at around 12:43 a.m. Callers say the driver, Good, appears intoxicated and is hitting things through out the city of Charleston. In this exchange with Metro 911, the witness saw Good’s truck hitting a guardrail behind Women and Children's Hospital and running:
Caller: Yes I would like to report a drunk driver.
Metro 911 Operator: Where at?
Caller: Coming form the intestate at Women's and Children's.
Metro 911 Operator: Which way is it going?
Caller: He's done wrecked.
Metro 911 Operator: He did what?
Caller: He has already wrecked.
In another tape at around 1:03 a.m., a woman living in the Carroll Terrace area says she witnessed the grey flatbed truck hitting cars earlier that night. That truck was already engaged in a chase with Patrolman Jerry Jones and other Charleston Police Officers.
Metro 911 also released police radio traffic that fills in the gaps where the 911 callers leave off. One officer tells the other cruiser to fall in behind him because he is familiar with the suspect and he knows where the man is going. The officer later identifies that place as Slack Trailer Park.
Later in the radio traffic tape, an officer says that Good is throwing items at him.
"Be careful that guy threw a tool box out," the officer says.
Reports of the tools and beer bottles flying out of Good’s window come at around 12:46 a.m.
Eventually, they come to a point where Good does a U-Turn driving head on into the officers’ path.
Officer 1: If you're on Mill Creek Road, slow down because he’s coming out of here driving pretty erratic.
Officer 2: I think State Police are getting spike strips.
Officer 3: All units he just tried to hit me.
Officer 1: 103, he did the same thing to me buddy.
The first officer in that exchange comes back on the radio again warning officers to pullover because of the erratic driver.
"All units on Mill Creek Road get over. He's not playing around," he says.
At 1:07 a.m., reports of shots fired come into Metro 911 on Pinch Ridge. At 1:09 a.m., officers report Good is down. Then a minute later, they report that Patrolman Jerry Jones has also been shot.
"You need to get up here hard buddy, hard, hard, hard," an officer is heard saying to dispatchers on the tape.
Metro 911 is instructed to call HealthNet. The helicopter then airlifts the wounded to CAMC General Hospital where several police officers are already waiting for Jones to be brought into the E.R.
Jones would die a short time later. The scene on Pinch Ridge would not be cleared until 11:39 a.m. that morning.
Charleston Patrolman Jones's funeral services took place earlier in the week. He was buried on Wednesday.
The family of Brian Good has also said their goodbyes. Services were held for Good on Friday at the Good Shepherd Mortuary in South Charleston.
Meanwhile, Kanawha County Sheriff's Deputies continue their investigation into the incident.