Posted on 05/09/2002 6:08:14 AM PDT by SJackson
The Chicago Police Department's Internal Affairs Division has launched an investigation to determine why a South Side woman who made three calls to 911 to report that her husband was violating an order of protection was murdered before police arrived on the scene.
A pair of police cars converged on the scene 17 minutes after the victim's first Friday night call to 911, but Ronyale White, 31, was dead on the bedroom floor with a gunshot wound in her head.
Whether a quicker response would have saved White's life is unknown. Even so, the question is why did officers take 17 minutes to arrive at her home in the 10600 block of South La Salle.
Was White's initial call--that her husband was violating the order of protection--given the "Priority 1A" status it deserved?
IAD opened a "complaint registered" in response to questions raised by the Chicago Sun-Times and by Leslie Landis, domestic violence liaison to Mayor Daley.
"Initially, the sequence of calls, when you look at it, appear to be within the guidelines, but it's questionable," police spokesman Pat Camden said.
White made three calls to 911 --at 11:40 p.m., 11:45 p.m. and at 11:50 p.m., prosecutors said.
Although police cars were reportedly dispatched to the scene after each of the three calls, none arrived at White's home until 11:57 p.m. That's when two cars arrived simultaneously and officers found White's body on the bedroom floor, said Larry Langford, spokesman for the city's Office of Emergency Communications.
In the first call, White is heard saying her husband, Louis Drexel, 30, is outside her home and she has an order of protection against him.
Dispatchers then hear her saying, " 'He's inside the house,' " prosecutor LuAnn Rodi Snow said.
In the second call, White says Drexel left the house and was "punching holes in the tires of the Durango. He has a gun," Rodi Snow said. "He said she's going to die."
In the third and final call, operators hear a man's voice threatening death, then a loud noise, apparently a door being kicked in. Five seconds later, two shots are heard and the phone goes dead.
White had locked the door of her bedroom and activated a tape recorder, which captured much of the attack, including the gunshots. After the attack, Drexel put the gun in her hand in a failed attempt to make it appear to be a suicide, the prosecutor said.
Investigators said they think the gun was the same gun Drexel had reported stolen in early April.
After the shooting, Drexel went to his mother's Forest Park home. The mother called police, who arrived on the scene as Drexel was attempting suicide. The bullet grazed his right temple. Drexel was later hospitalized. He wore a blue hospital smock during a bond hearing Tuesday.
He was charged with first-degree murder and ordered held without bond.
The murder of a battered woman who made three frantic calls to 911 angered victims' advocates, including Landis.
"If that's how things transpired, it's a tragedy. The response should have been prompter. . . . Priority One calls should receive a response that's faster than 17 minutes," Landis said.
"We need to examine what we can do to prevent that kind of occurrence in the future. I'm asking them to investigate it."
Joyce Coffee, executive director of Family Rescue, a South Side nonprofit, said she was "saddened" by the police response, especially in light of recent changes that have bolstered police training on domestic violence and elevated emergency calls to the Priority One status that requires immediate dispatch.
Langford acknowledged that the 911 call-taker had the option of dispatching a police car while continuing to question the victim, but chose to interview White fully before radioing the first police car shortly after 11:43 p.m.
"The lady's demeanor was very calm and she was conversational. She didn't say anything in the call that indicated she was about to be bodily harmed. She said he got in with a key. There was no indication that he was kicking in a door. Because there was no weapon on the scene, that might have had something to do with it," he said.
I think you said it well. It's what the media has taught them, not limited to women either. IMO, we have to explain the facts to our friends, one at a time. If your friend thinks gun owners are demons (OK, a slight exageration), ask them to consider you, your values, and the fact that you are a gun owner. You're not a demon.
I've never had to shoot a gun at anyone, nor do I expect to have to do that sort of a thing. But I'm prepared, and I hope I won't falter if that time comes.
Of course you and I have to wait 7-21 days to legally acquire our firearms....
A suitable pistol and range time would be a better deterent, imho.
911 = Dial a prayer...
Dan
Mine too!! I'll leave home without the old AmEx but NOT without my handgun!! Entirely too many crazies in this world for me to feel safe relying on the cops (who will tell you pretty darned quick that they can't protect you!).
Might I suggest Glaser Safety Slugs or some other form of low-penetration ammunition?
NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE TO GO WITHOUT A FIGHTING CHANCE.
Other women who know how Mrs. Price was lied too by the government false statements that 911 will protect you.
* Women who defend their sons daughters and husbands *
http://www.sas-aim.org/home.htm
Bad guys don't live by the rules. Here is Mrs. Ruth Price story and I would think that you would agree she disagrees with this leftist extremist, anti-gun views. Here is Mrs. Price story. Another disarmed voice.
Mrs. Price speaks directly to the gun control extremists with a powerful message. Requires Audio setup, downloads in 30 seconds, however, well worth your wait for this message.
If you have trouble with this load, cut and paste to URL line.
http://www.geekswithguns.com/audio/911_call_no_address.ram
Next Picture from Mother's of the past, speaking to soccer moms of today.
Have we forgotten already.
Women's talk about self defense.
The best news link on the planet for self defense.
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Who needs protection? The women of our lives, and our children, the poor who have little police protection, our grandparents, and parents, our wife, and our daughters need the right to self-defense at home and on the street. 2.2 million felons in jail, 3.5 million felons on probation, and 14 million drug abusers looking for their next fix. Do you think they are living in your city? Guns save lives. Gun free zones are killing zones for criminals. Most anti gun liberals are one mugging away from conservative views.
Dail 911 and die is more than a cute saying. It is life or death.
The actual 911 call is Mrs Price voice. Take this recording to every MMM and anti gun rally in the nation. Perhaps the MMM anti guns will be the next Mrs Price.
Another Mrs Price story in Columbus OHIO -- Dialed 911 and Died.
Mrs. Turner's story. Restraining orders, Killer telling police he was going to kill her, begging for life for several minutes, nor did phone call to 911 save this woman's life.
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b28997102ad.htm
What is your self defense plan when the bad guy shows up at your door?
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I think the gun was his but he reported it stolen earlier, probably to avoid losing it due to the protection order (Investigators said they think the gun was the same gun Drexel had reported stolen in early April. ). He could have gotten a gun illegally in minutes in Chicago though.
Proves the same point, these laws don't deter criminals.
Never FReep without your morning coffee...
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