KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — We now know that the employee at BIOMAT U.S.A. who was near gunman Brandon Stacey when he ambushed two Public Safety Officers, was on the phone to Central Dispatch at the time.
Public Safety has released 911 calls from the March shooting and it appears that she was calmly giving information to the dispatcher and relaying messages to Stacey, at one point asking him to drop the gun.
You can hear him on the tape say “forget it”.
Soon after Officer Brandon Westrick came around the corner and in the furious exchange of gunfire that followed, Westrick was hit twice in his bulletproof vest and once in his holster.
Temporarily incapacitated by the impact of the slugs Westrick falls back behind the wall. The woman on the phone remains in place, telling Stacey to stop firing and then telling him she was moving as she ducked behind a counter.
Video from PSO Emily Westin’s bodycam shows her returning fire, fatally wounding Stacey who fell onto his back.
Prosecutor Jeff Getting called the action of the officers justified, given the circumstances, based on what he learned from the surveillance videos, the 911 call and the account of those who survived.
PSO Westrick was treated and released.
PSO Westin and the brave employee on the phone were not physically injured.
