911 Tapes Depict FedEx Shooting Chaos
A security guard critically wounded when a gunman went on a rampage at a FedEx facility asked an emergency dispatcher to tell his wife that he loves her.
The 19-year-old assailant, Geddy Kramer, shot security guard Christopher Sparkman in the chest with a shotgun at the start of an April 29 attack at a FedEx facility near Atlanta. Kramer wounded six people, including Sparkman, before killing himself, police said.
Sparkman, who was recently married, called 911 shortly after he was shot.
"He's got a shotgun. I've been shot. I've been shot," Sparkman told an emergency dispatcher, according to a recording released under Georgia's open records law. Sparkman survived the shooting but was still hospitalized Tuesday in serious condition. "Please, tell my wife I love her."
Sparkman said he was shot in the gut and abdomen. "I'm losing energy really fast," he said.
Colleagues clustered around him can be heard screaming and shouting as Sparkman bled and turned pale.
"Please hurry, please, God, hurry, I do not want to die," Sparkman, 28, told the dispatcher. Emergency responders arrived less than three minutes after the start of the phone call.
The dispatcher assured Sparkman that police and ambulances were on the way. Co-workers fleeing the building rushed to help the wounded guard, including one woman who dialed 911. "He's OK, but he's very light," the woman told a dispatcher. "He's very pale. Please help him."
She offered to help Sparkman call his wife.
The recordings provide a glimpse into the chaos created by Kramer's attack. In the background of the phone calls, those clustered around Sparkman tried to figure out how to best apply pressure to his gunshot wounds. Managers screamed at workers to evacuate the building. Dispatchers quizzed callers seeking a description of the shooter, details on the gunman's whereabouts and the location of the injured.
"Go, go, go!" a man shouted in the background.
The motive of the shooter remains unclear. The assailant's father, Scott Kramer, said he was unaware of any grievances that his son had and did not even know that his son had acquired a gun. Investigations said Kramer left a suicide note, but they say it does not explain the motive for his attack.
One man called police from a bathroom inside the plant. He was one of two callers who said the assailant was armed with a shotgun and wore a bandolier, a pocketed belt used to carry ammunition. In a separate call, the woman helping Sparkman said the attacker also had a knife.
"A man walked in with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot my buddy," the man said. He did not know Kramer's name but recognized him as having previously been inside the plant. The caller said Kramer came in the plant earlier in the day, but left. The caller was evacuating workers from the plant and had little time to offer more details.
"Don't be a hero, let's go!" he shouted.
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