911 calls, radio traffic provide details in I-40 crash, shooting
Radio communications among Johnston County deputies and 911 calls from passing drivers are helping fill in the gaps of what happened Saturday morning before a deputy and a State Highway Patrol trooper arrived at a volatile scene on Interstate 40.
Posted — UpdatedJohnston County authorities on Monday released recordings of 13 911 calls and official radio traffic in relation to the shooting of Tina Renee Medlin, who remains in critical condition at WakeMed.
"I'm on I-40 going west at Exit 334, and I just passed a wreck, and the guy looks like he was either thrown from the vehicle," one woman told a 911 dispatcher. "I think I saw that vehicle going past me going probably 120 mph a ways back."
Authorities responding to a report of a single-vehicle crash on westbound I-40 north of Newton Grove found Medlin, 50, of Raleigh, armed with a gun lying on the highway.
"I-40 westbound, motor vehicle accident, female there is advising she wants to kill herself. She has a gun," a Johnston County Sheriff's Office dispatcher tells deputies heading to the scene.
"We just called in to report of an accident, and then they told us for our own safety to leave. I do want to tell you my husband noticed she has a pistol in the back of her pants," another woman told 911.
"I just passed a pickup truck, looks like it ran off the road, and there's a guy standing out there with a handgun pointed at the truck," a man told 911.
About 40 seconds after the sheriff's office dispatcher told deputies about the woman with a gun, a deputy called out, "Shots fired. Shots fired."
Authorities said Medlin shot at Trooper J.L. Taylor and Deputy Taylor Davis, and both law enforcement officers returned fire, wounding her.
It's unclear which of the officers shot Medlin, or whether both did.
Taylor, a 16-year veteran of the Highway Patrol, and Davis have both been placed on administrative leave as the State Bureau of Investigation looks into the shooting, which is standard procedure.
Highway Patrol Sgt. Michael Baker said a dashboard camera in Taylor's patrol car captured the incident on video, and the SBI is reviewing the footage.
Neither Taylor nor Davis was wearing a body camera. In fact, both the Highway Patrol and the Johnston County Sheriff's Office said they have no plans to equip their officers with the devices.
Medlin's former neighbors described her Monday as kindhearted, but unpredictable and volatile.
Records show she has arrests in Wake County dating to 1990, including charges of resisting a public officer and assault on a government official from 2013.
Her relatives are keeping vigil at WakeMed, and they asked for privacy.
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