911 Call from Toys R' Us Shooting Released
It's Black Friday. You're shopping at Toys R' Us in suburban Palm Desert. You hear two women start to fight over something and roll your eyes. Then... "he's got a gun!" Boom, boom, boom! Two men are running at each other shooting. Chaos erupts and you call 911:
Phone call from store employee
Luckily no one else is hurt. Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs, and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City, shot and killed each other during an apparent running gun battle. Police responded, but arrested no one.
Caller: I got the cops. I got the cops on the phone.
Dispatcher: This is 911.
Caller: (inaudible) at the Toys `R' Us in Palm Desert (inaudible)
Dispatcher: I'm sorry, what in Palm Desert?
Caller: Toys `R' Us (inaudible). ... The guy's still here with the gun.
Dispatcher: Ma'am? Ma'am?
Caller: Yes?
Dispatcher: I need to get an address.
Caller: Oh my God! Oh my God!
Dispatcher: I need to get an address.
Caller: OK, OK, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Dispatcher: You need, can you go somewhere where I can hear you?
Caller: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Our address is 74321 Highway 111.
Dispatcher: 73341?
Caller: 74321 Highway 111. I think this guy's dying.
Dispatcher: What's the cross street?
Caller: We're off of 111 and Fred Waring.
Dispatcher: OK, what's going on?
Caller: I don't know, they just started fighting and all I heard was he's got a gun and these two guys they're on the floor and both of them are shot.
Dispatcher: Both of them are shot?
Caller: Yes.
Dispatcher: Who has the gun?
Caller: Um, I don't know. One of, I don't know, one of them in the dark shirt had a gun and ...
Dispatcher: Where's the person with the gun?
Caller: He's passed out on the register.
Dispatcher: OK. He's passed out on the register. Is he shot also?
Caller: Yes, they're both shot. They're both down. There's all kinds of kids...
Dispatcher: Is this a business?
Caller: Yes, it's Toys `R' Us.
Dispatcher: It's Toys `R' Us?
Caller: Yes, Toys `R' Us. I have the cops on the phone, calm down.
Dispatcher: OK, you need to calm down. Hold on, ok?
Caller: Yes.
Dispatcher: Calm down. Give me a description of the two people that are down.
Caller: One has a bald head, a black sweatshirt and black jeans on. The other one has a brown sweatshirt, with Levis on and white tennis shoes.
Dispatcher: The second subject that's down, what is he wearing?
Caller: They're both down. They're both down.
Dispatcher: OK, the second subject -- the first person is wearing a black sweatshirt. The second person...
Caller: A golf shirt and shorts...
Dispatcher: OK, I can't hear. A black sweatshirt ...
Caller: Black sweatshirt and black cutoff jeans. The second suspect has on a pair of blue jeans ... and he's on the floor. The cops are coming now. Oh God.
Dispatcher: Are they there? Are the deputies there?
Caller: Yeah, they're here. They're coming, they're coming. They got two down on the floor. Please, please, please. OK, the cops are here now.
AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Rodrigo Pena