9-1-1 Tapes: Mom Asks Chicago Police To Help Her Unstable Son, Without Guns
(CBS) – For the first time, we're hearing 9-1-1 calls made by a mother minutes before Chicago police opened fire and killing her son last September.
On the recorded transmission, you can hear the mother tell police several times that her son has a mental illness and plead that they come and transport him to a hospital.
CBS 2's Audrina Bigos reports.
In police reports, the officer who fired says he feared for his life and fired five shots -- all hitting 33-year-old James Anderson, who died.
His mother, Pamela Anderson, called 9-1-1 about him, saying he was acting in a threatening manner. She said he needed to be taken to the hospital for psychiatric care.
When asked by a dispatcher if her son had a weapon, Pamela Anderson said he had a box cutter.
"It's in his pocket but he's not going to use it, you know, you don't have to come in with no guns or nothing. They just need to get him out of here," she said.
Here's how the call went out to officers: "Pamela Anderson said her son James Anderson, 34 years old, has a history of mental illness. He threatened her. He has a box cutter in his pocket."
Within minutes, there was a call of "shots fired by police – one down."
Police reports say an officer fired five shots, hitting James Anderson in the chest, both arms and his right leg.
Police say James Anderson lunged at officers with a "knifelike" object in his hand. Officers say they tried to subdue him with a Taser, but he continued to come toward them in a threatening manner.
Pamela Anderson talked with CBS 2 the day after the fatal shooting and disputed police accounts.
"I wanted help for him, not to be burying him," she said.
The mother has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
