Guilford County releases the recording of Courtland Smith’s 911 call, during which he told the dispatcher he was drunk, carrying a pistol and driving 110 miles an hour.
It’s fascinating listening as the dispatcher, in a sweet southern voice, tries to figure out where Smith’s heading. He had no clue —– he kept telling her he was on I-40 heading west to Asheville when he was really on I-85 heading south toward Charlotte. He could have easily ended up going the wrong way on the interstate and crashing head-on into someone, a possibility even at 4:45 in the morning. I also applaud the dispatcher for keeping Smith on the line for 15 minutes after he was about to hang up five minutes.
Even stranger is the gentlemanly manner Smith maintained even in his apparently drunken state, telling the dispatcher he was glad he was talking to her and politely asking her again and again to dispatch someone to pull him over. There was also a strangely funny moment when Smith told the dispatcher he saw lights flashing behind him. When the dispatcher asked what color the lights were, he replied “well what (expletive) color do you think they are?”
I don’t know what happened between this kid and Officer Jeremy Finchum. This was clearly some desperate call for help —- in the broader sense — that went terribly wrong. Smith said “everything everyone needs to know got e-mailed to my parents.” They’re not saying much.
