The Call

Much has been already said about Officer Britt Sweeney's quick, decisive, and brave response in the moments after a gunman opened fire on Sweeney and her partner Timothy Brenton in a drive-by shooting Leschi Saturday night.

Police say Brenton was killed instantly, and although Sweeney—who has only been with the department for six months—was wounded in the shooting, police say she was still able to scramble out of her patrol car and return fire at the other vehicle. Chief John Diaz described Sweeney's actions as that of "a tenured veteran" at a press conference Sunday afternoon.

Not only was Sweeney collected enough to physically respond to what police are calling an "assassination" attempt, but during radio traffic following the incident, Sweeney can be heard calling in to report that her partner has been killed, and attempting to direct other officers to the scene.

Now's not the time to put the audio up—nerves are still too raw, and the call is truly heartrendingly horrific—but it should be seen how quickly Sweeney (referred to in the tape by her patrol call sign ,3 George 13) and her fellow officers reacted to the shooting.

This is how it happened:

(0:00) Sweeney: Shots fired, 29^th and Yesler!

(0:06) Dispatcher: Is there a unit calling radio?

(0:15) Officer 1: I believe she said I-5 north of yesler

(0:19) Operator: 3 george 13?

(0:22) Sweeney: [sobs]

(0:24) Operator: 3 George 13? I map George 13, I show her at 29 and E yesler way, if units could [surge?] that way

(0:37) Sweeney: Help. Shots fired [sobs]

(0:42) Sweeney: My partner’s dead.

(0:44) Dispatcher: I need units to 29 and East Yesler

(0:47) Officer 2: Edward 32’s on his way [Siren]

(1:00) Officer 1: 3 George en route

(1:08) Sweeney: Help me.

(1:13) Dispatcher: Help the officer 29 and E Yesler

(1:24) Sweeney: I need medical

(1:38) Officer 1: George 31 arriving

(2:01) Officer 1: George 33, we’ve got officer down. We need more, uh, we need fire here now.

(2:08) Dispatcher: Fire’s on the way.