Here's the full transcript of the 911 call that preceded Andrew Loku's fatal shooting by police
Graphic content warning: An audio recording in this story includes the sound of fatal gunshots
A 911 call on July 5, 2015 captured the last moments of Andrew Loku's life, including the 19 seconds between which he was told to drop a hammer and the sound of a police officer's fatal gunshots.
The call was released this week at a coroner's inquest into the 45-year-old man's death. The full transcript is available below.
Caller: "Hello? Hello?"
Operator: "Emergency. "Do you require police, fire or ambulance?"
Caller: (Inaudible.) "Somebody is trying to come into my friend's house and attack the mom."
Operator: Asks for address. (We are not reporting that for privacy reasons.)
Caller: Provides address.
Operator: "But somebody's trying to get into the apartment?"
Caller: "Yeah, he came inside with a hammer."
Operator: "So what's going on now?"
Caller: "He's standing at the door talking. He said he's going to kill my friend." (Other voices on caller's side inaudible.) "And he walked inside the apartment."
Operator: "So where is he now?"
Caller: "He's in the hallway in front of the door."
Operator: "And where's your friend?"
Caller: "She's right here."
Operator: "Why does he want to kill her?"
Caller: "Because he keeps banging on the floor so she went downstairs to knock on the door and he opened the door and slamming it, opening the door and slamming it … and it's making stuff fall down in the apartment so she knocked downstairs. He came back up with a hammer and walked inside the apartment."
Caller: (To someone in the apartment.) "What is wrong with him?" (More inaudible.)
Operator: "OK, so he's from the apartment upstairs or downstairs?"
Caller: "He's, he's holding the door so I cannot lock the door. And he lives below us."
Operator: "Do you know his name?"
Caller: "No, I don't."
Operator: "What apartment is he in?"
Caller: (Apartment number withheld for privacy reasons.) "I'm pretty sure, because it's right below us."
Operator: "OK and she went down to tell him to stop making the noise?"
Caller: "Pardon me?" (Inaudible words in background.)
Operator: "What is he saying?"
Caller: "He's going to kill my friend."
Operator: "Who is that talking?"
Caller: "My friend's mom."
Operator: "OK, so what's everybody saying there? What's going on?"
Caller: "Um, nothing now. The door's closed, I'm not sure what's happening."
Operator: "Who's outside in the hall?"
Caller: "Just the man. He's yelling. Yeah, he's yelling." To someone in apartment: "I'm on the phone with the police right now." To operator: "He's banging stuff in the hallways."
Operator: "OK, what does he look like? Is he white, black, Asian?"
Caller: "He's African. He's screaming in the hallway."
Operator: "OK, how tall is he?"
Caller: (Inaudible.)
Operator: "How old do you think he is?"
Caller: "Um, maybe in his 40s, 45."
(Banging and shattering sounds can be heard in the background.)
Operator: "OK, how tall is he?"
Caller: "He's like, five-11."
Operator: "What was he wearing?"
Caller: "Listen, he's breaking stuff in the hall... He's wearing grey, a grey jacket." (Inaudible yelling, female voice.)
Operator: "Grey jacket?"
Caller: "I'm pretty sure, yeah."
Operator: "And what?"
Caller: "Um, I'm not sure what else." (Banging sound in background.) "He's breaking everything in the hallway with the hammer."
More yelling in background, more sounds of breaking and shattering. Inaudible for about 10 seconds, except for a combination of shouting, banging and a female yelling.
Operator: "OK, so where are you?"
Caller: "Inside the apartment."
Operator: "Did you open up the front door? Who is screaming right now?"
Caller: "You're downstairs?"
Operator: "Who is that screaming?
Caller: "It's the guy with the hammer."
Operator: "Yeah, but is there a woman screaming?"
Caller: "Yeah. One of the neighbours and him."
Operator: "So another neighbour's come out of their apartment?"
Caller: "Pardon me?"
Operator: "Has another neighbour come out of their apartment?"
Caller: "Yes, yes."
On caller's line what sounds like a child's voice in background, inaudible at first, then: "He doesn't need to use a hammer"… "Says he going to kill us."
Operator: "So where is he?"
Caller: "In the hallway."
Operator: "He's still there?"
Caller: "Yes." (Many voices in background)
Can hear a male voice in the background: "Drop the hammer. Drop the hammer."
Operator: Asks caller for her name.
Caller: Says it's hard to hear.
Operator: "Yeah the police are there."
Caller: (To someone in room.) "OK, move from the door."
Operator: "OK, how did they get in?"
Caller: "I'm not sure, nobody opened the door for them."
There's the sound of two gunshots.
Caller: "Oh, my god. Oh, my god."
Operator: "What was that?"
Caller: "That was gunshots." (To someone in house: "Oh, my god, are you OK?") "Oh, my god."
Operator: "What was that?"
Caller: "The gunshots from the police officer." (To someone in house: "Are you OK, [name removed]? Are you OK?")
In background you can a can hear male voice saying: "Stay in the house! Stay in the house! Stay down!"
Operator: "OK, can you go in your apartment, please?"
Caller: To someone in house: "They killed him?" Crying sounds.
Operator: "Oh, my. What?"
Caller: More crying heard. Child's voice: "He's dead?" More crying.
Operator: OK, can I get your name?
Caller: Gives her name.
Operator: "OK, so what happened? Police come up the elevator?"
Caller: "Um, no. There's only stairs so I guess they came up the stairs and the guy wouldn't put down the hammer so that was when they shot him."
More crying in background.
Then a siren is heard in the background.
Caller: "Is that here?"
Operator: "OK, so where is everybody now?"
Caller: "We're in the living room. We're not allowed to go out of our apartment."
Operator: "OK, no. Nobody leaves the apartment. Just stay there until police knock on the door to come in."