911 call: 'He told me I was going to die today'
A 911 call depicts the terror a Raleigh woman experienced on Friday as her former boyfriend chased her along U.S. 1 and fired shots at her car.
Posted — Updated“My ex-boyfriend is following me in a car, and he’s trying to kill me,” Heather Lee told a Chatham County dispatcher. "He’s going to shoot me if he catches me.”
Lee said Monday that she had dated Jeremy Jones for about a year and a half before they broke up last July. She said they remained friends and didn't want to share details of what led up to the chase out of respect for Jones' family.
Lee told the dispatcher she had run into Jones in Sanford early Friday and that he threatened to kill her.
The dispatcher advised Lee, who was speeding north at about 90 mph on U.S. 1 from Chatham County into Wake County, to take the nearest exit in order to shake Jones off her tail.
"I’m scared. He told me he was going to kill me, told me I was going to die today,” Lee tearfully told the dispatcher.
"No, that’s not going to happen. We’re not going to let that happen," the dispatcher responded.
Lee got off on N.C. Highway 55 in Apex and headed south toward Holly Springs. The dispatcher advised her to make a U-turn and head north to Apex, where police were waiting to stop Jones.
Lee begged the dispatcher for another option, saying she didn't want to slow down to turn around because Jones was right behind her.
“If you slow down, he’s going to shoot you?” the dispatcher asked.
"Yes, ma’am, please, somebody,” a sobbing Lee said.
Apex police said Monday that they never told the dispatcher to send Lee back in their direction.
Janet Scott of the Chatham County 911 center said dispatchers made the decision to have Lee turn around into the path of a gunman.
"We were just trying to get her to the closest officers," Scott said.
As Lee headed back to the intersection of U.S. 1 and N.C. 55, Jones fired at least four shots at her Toyota Camry, police said.
Jones' Nissan Maxima then slammed into the back of a white minivan on N.C. 55 near Lufkin Road, and he shot and killed himself before police could arrest him.
Lee suffered minor injuries when she was hit by flying glass during the shooting. The occupants of the minivan were uninjured.
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