911 transcript released of moments leading up to St. Paul shootout that killed Brandon Keys, injured Officer Michael Tschida
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Investigators have released the 911 transcript of the phone call made before the police shootout that killed Brandon Keys and injured an officer last week.
The shooting happened near Cretin and Marshall avenues on Thursday around 2 p.m. Keys, 24, was shot in the head while Officer Michael Tschida was struck in the ankle by gunfire. Keys died a day later from his injuries.
According to the 911 transcript, a woman called emergency services to report Keys — her child's father — who she had a restraining order against.
"My baby's dad is chasing me," she says. "He has a gun."
The woman goes on to say that she is in her mother's van, and Keys hit her vehicle with his.
"He busted out the window. Are you fu---- kidding me?" The woman tells the 911 responder. "He just busted my window, and he just busted my windshield."
Keys then tells the woman to open the car door, but she refuses. The 911 responder then tells the woman to get to a safe location, but Keys continues to follow her, according to the transcript.
"Please. Oh my God. He hit me again. He hit me again," the woman says. "Oh, he's gonna fu----- kill me. He's gonna kill me. I can't."
The woman and Keys have a brief exchange in which he asks for a cigarette, but the woman refuses. She then pulls over into a nearby gas station when she sees a squad car arrive.
RELATED: Domestic violence calls among the most dangerous for officers, police say
St. Paul Police released footage from Tschida's body camera and squad car on Tuesday afternoon, which shows Tschida speeding to the scene. As his squad arrives and stops in the middle of the street, Keys is standing next to the woman's driver's side window.
Keys then goes back to his car and ducks behind the trunk, according to the video. He then pops up and fires multiple rounds at Tschida, who returns fire.
The woman, who is still pulling over at the time, starts screaming, telling the 911 responder to tell them not to shoot Keys. In the video, she's seen getting out of her car and running into the street towards Keys. Tschida yells at her to get out of the way, and the 911 transcript ends with the woman asking the 911 responder to send an ambulance, and asking for help.
"He's down," she says four times. "Please come here. Please, please help me."
Police say Tschida was raced to a hospital by another officer at the scene.
"We are fortunate and grateful that in this incident the injuries to our Officer Tschida were non-life threatening. Our prayers, of course, continue to be with him and with his family as he recovers from that incident," said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter during a press conference on Tuesday. "And we also know that we lost a community member at the same time. We also know that that reality is traumatizing to many of us in community, and also to every single one of our police officers."
Black Lives Matter Minnesota is calling for the release of more body camera footage. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is using the footage in their ongoing investigation.
WCCO has requested an audio copy of the 911 call. Police said in response that only a transcript would be released at this time.
Below is the entire transcript of the call. This transcript includes graphic language and descriptions of the shooting.
911 transcript of St. Paul officer shootout that killed Brandon Keys, injured Office Michael Tschida by WCCO - CBS Minnesota on Scribd
Note: The above video first aired on Dec. 12, 2023
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Domestic Violence Resources: For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.