Watch live: Update on 2 women killed in Apex neighborhood

And then Chief Jason Armstrong will come up and share

an update on the case

He'll also take a few questions

Um So when we get to that point if you

would state your name and your immediate affiliation that'd be

really helpful for us

Um So we'll go ahead and get started with your

address

Thank you Stacy

Good morning

First of all I want to thank everyone for being

here today

And uh I want to also offer my deepest deepest

condolences to the families of Nancy Taylor and Gabrielle Raymond

And I also want to take this time to acknowledge

and thank all of your first responders who were part

of the response on Monday

Um After receiving the call they responded courageously

I want everyone here today to understand that our community

is devastated by the events that occurred on Monday

Our entire town is currently grappling with an overwhelming sense

of grief and I want to respectfully request your support

in handling the media coverage of this tragic event with

the utmost sensitivity

It's come to my attention today that we will be

releasing 911 calls and chief will talk about that in

his statement

This is a very difficult time for all the families

And may I add our entire community in this challenging

time I believe it is crucial for the media to

demonstrate compassion and empathy

And as the mayor of the town I ask all

of you to use your best discretion when recording your

cooper in this matter will not only respect the privacy

and dignity of the families affected but also foster a

sense of healing and support within our community

And again I want to thank each and every one

of you for being here today

And I want you to also continue to lift up

our community in prayer and also love and support

Thank you

Thank you Mayor Gilbert

Good morning

Uh My name is Jason Armstrong

I serve as the police chief here uh for the

town of Apex

Uh So as you all are are aware um you

know with this incident we've received a lot of requests

for information a lot of questions

Um and things of course you know the 911 calls

um is something that that most of you all have

have asked for

And so we've finished uh getting all of them uh

edited uh and download it and and edit it redact

it what what information needed to be redacted from it

And so I I wanted to talk a little bit

about uh some of the recordings that you're going to

hear once we send them out and and add some

context to it

Uh and and provide a little bit um more insight

and information into some of the things that we know

uh took place

Uh on Monday one thing that I wanted to start

off with uh we received a lot of questions and

inquiries about what our history of the police department's history

and uh previous history and involvement with uh Mr Hardman

was

And before this incident happened on Monday the only other

interaction that the Apex Police Department had previously had with

Mr Hartman was just this past December on December 11th

of 2023

Mr Harvey came here to the police department to report

a cell phone

Uh he turned over found property um I guess he

was an Uber driver and uh somebody that he uh

gave a ride to through the Uber service had left

their cell phone in his vehicle

And so he came here to turn in that cell

phone to us

Um And so before that uh we had not had

any uh interactions uh any calls for service or anything

uh involving Mr Hartman

Uh before before Monday before I get into some of

the calls that came in and and and what I

want to talk about uh one thing that I wanted

to explain is how our 911 system is is set

up here uh and how calls come in

So we do have a dispatch center here uh in

Apex and inside the Apex Police Department

But our dispatch center is considered a secondary dispatch center

So it's called the acronym is is PS A which

stands for public safety answering point

And so we are a secondary public safety answering point

We partner with Kerry Police Department and their communications center

And so they are our primary public safety answering point

So what that means is here in Apex When you

call 911 that 911 call is going to ring in

Kerry's Dispatch center

It's gonna ring Carry's Dispatch center

And then when they get the address of the emergency

or or where the call is then the call is

automatically transferred to the dispatch center here in Apex to

get the officers dispatched uh out to the call

Um And so with this incident the very first call

that came in that day was placed on our non-emergency

number

And so if you call the Apex Police Department's non-emergency

number that phone call comes directly to our dispatch center

is answered by our dispatchers

And so on the day of the incident I wait

for the train to go by

right on the day of the incident

The first call that came in came in at 3:02

p.m. It was a call made on our non-emergency number

from one of the the residents out there at um

at South

And what that caller was calling to tell us was

that there was an individual out in the back of

the complex that was being very loud and and what

the caller said the individual was screaming at the sky

So the individual was screaming at the sky was pacing

back and forth and uh had a pool stick in

his hands uh that he was kind of waving around

So the information that the dispatcher was receiving the dispatcher

started putting the call information in to dispatch this as

a crisis call

Um And so we call that ac it call crisis

intervention team it was a crisis call

So the call came in at 302 the dispatcher is

talking to the caller is collecting the information and is

asking all of the questions that we ask when we're

processing ac it type call so we can pass that

information on to the officers while the caller is speaking

with the dispatcher

Uh The caller also informs us that an an older

lady has has walked up outside and is talking with

the individual that is outside making um the the noise

and we believe that that was one of our victims

Nancy Taylor

Um Nancy Taylor is her walking up and begin speaking

with Mr Harman with Mr Hardman

Um But then it it the the caller says that

he believes they're walking away because he can no longer

uh hear them uh hear their voices outside

And just a few seconds later the caller states that

they believe that they just heard gunshots in our call

system

It shows that the first officers who were dispatched to

the cit call were dispatched at 3:05 p.m. So the

call comes in at 302 pm on our non-emergency line

as the dispatcher is talking with the caller and asking

the questions that we ask and getting the information call

is being typed into the system

And so the first officer is dispatched at 3:05 p.m.

but that officer is dispatched to ac it call which

does not garner um an emergency response

So the officer is not driving their lights and sirens

because we hadn't had we hadn't received any emergency information

yet

Additionally at 3:05 p.m. is when the 1st 911 call

comes in that 911 call as I stated earlier goes

to the Kerry Police Department

So they answered that 911 call at 3:05 p.m. Oh

well I'm done with that

That 1st 911 call uh that came into uh carry

dispatch center came from Gabrielle Raymond's cell phone

on that call

Unfortunately Miss Raymond did not get a chance to speak

to the dispatcher

She did not get a chance to say anything to

the dispatcher on that 911 call

The only thing that we hear are gunshots and screams

from everything that we have uncovered from our investigation

Um to this point

Uh We are are confident we are certain that what

we are hearing on that 911 call is the moment

that uh MS Taylor and Miss Raymond are shot and

killed by Mr Hardin

Another not so as you mentioned so at at 3:05

p.m. is when the the shots start um when the

shots are fired

And so that triggers a lot of the community members

in that neighborhood to start calling 911

So a bevy of 911 calls start to come in

And so all of those calls are coming in to

ke and Kr is once they get the information uh

where the call is then those calls are being transferred

to our dispatch center here

Um So you know those all those calls will be

provided uh in the release that we send out after

this

But there's one additional call that I I did want

to uh talk about and that's a call that comes

into 911 at 3:08 p.m. And that call comes from

another resident in the neighborhood and what we learned from

from that call

And and from that resident is when the shots go

off and this resident hears the shots

This resident looks outside and sees that there's a gunman

outside

Resident goes and grabs his gun and runs outside to

confront and challenge the shooter

Um And as he's challenging the shooter um he calls

he has a cell phone out and he calls 911

to report what's going on

Uh There are no gunshots that are exchanged between Mr

Hardman and this courageous uh resident

Uh but after a few seconds of their confrontation uh

Mr Hartman flees from that interaction and begins to retreat

towards his residence

So like I said that was at 3:08 p.m. is

when we got uh the 911 phone call from that

uh community member and at 309 pm is when the

first officer arrives on scene

So right as that that interaction is is unfolding and

Mr Hartman is running away from uh that individual officers

are arriving on scene

So officers arrive on scene at 309 pm

Uh They spot Mr Hardman uh in the front of

his residence and he is retreating inside his residence Mr

Harman

When they see him he is holding a rifle at

this point in time

So when they first see him um at the front

of his residence he is holding a rifle um as

more officers start to arrive on scene uh officers kind

of split up

So we have some officers that run to the victims

and they start rendering aid and checking on the victims

and and setting up um uh protection for the officers

that are are checking on the victims

And we have other officers that are setting up a

perimeter around the area um as we know a general

area where the suspect has gone um inside uh the

residence as officers are setting up the perimeter they hear

a single gunshot

Um That is it sounds like it comes from the

back of the residence

And officers immediately run to that area where they heard

the gunshot come from come from

And that's where officers encounter Mr Hartman in the backyard

essentially um of his residence

Uh He is still in possession of uh the rifle

It's a AR-15 style rifle

Uh officers confront and challenge him uh with their weapons

drawn they give him commands to drop the weapon which

he complies with

He does drop the weapon and he does comply with

our orders to get on the ground

And at that time officers uh took him into custody

and placed uh handcuffs on him

Um And that that brought the situation um to to

an end uh as you all saw in the previous

um release that we sent out one of the charges

that Mr Hardman was charged with um was a cruelty

to animal uh charge

We did find in his residence uh his dog um

which um we learned was his dog uh had been

shot and killed

Also uh from everything that we have looked at and

and uncovered with this we strongly believe that the dog

had been shot and killed before these events took place

um that afternoon uh at 3 p.m. Um So we

we don't know an exact timeline or you know

Yeah we don't know exactly when the dog was was

shot and killed but everything that we have gathered thus

far and where the dog was and the timeline of

everything that we've been able to piece together

We're pretty certain that the the dog had already been

shot and killed by Mr Harmon before uh the shooting

incident with uh our other two victims

Mm So those are are some of the the 911

calls uh recordings that you all are going to get

when we send them out um that I wanted to

provide some context to next

What I'm going to do is I'm going to read

some statements that have been provided to me to read

on individuals behalf um to share with you all and

to share with the community

Uh The first statement is from the resident that ran

out to confront Mr Hardman

Um You know what we typically see uh when something

like this comes out is we know the media wants

to talk to that individual and wants to know who

they are and and get them on um get them

on camera and all of those things

Um And so that that courageous individual provided a statement

for me to read to you all today

And here is this statement around three pm on Monday

January 15th I heard gunshots that prompted me to open

my door and see what was happening as a neighbor

I was attempting to keep him from hurting anyone else

until the police arrived with that said I hope you

will respect my privacy and allow me to process this

horrible tragedy without intrusion

The next statement I'm going to read is a statement

from the family of Nancy Taylor Miss Taylor's family says

it is impossible to adequately describe what our family is

going through since the senseless and sudden loss of our

beloved family member mother and grandmother Nancy doted on her

grandsons moving her life to North Carolina to be close

to them

We have a strong faith in God and no Nancy

will forever watch over our family

We want to thank the first responders for their courageous

actions in responding to this horrific incident and the courageous

resident who confronted the suspect

Our greatest desire now is to be granted privacy to

grieve and process this incredible and lasting tragedy

And the last statement is a statement from the family

of Gabrielle Raymond

We are grieving the unimaginable loss of our beloved daughter

granddaughter sister aunt and friend Gabrielle

Our hearts are broken and our minds cannot comprehend how

or why such a bright light and future was taken

too soon from this world

During this time we would appreciate the space and privacy

to navigate this terrible and senseless tragedy that's taken place

So that is all that I have to share from

my update

Um I do want to reiterate a message that the

the mayor shared

Um you know this is a a tragedy that no

community wants to experience and and every community um worries

if they will ever be the the next one

And and when we have these unfortunate things happen uh

what I wanted to remind what I want to remind

everybody of is just the the impact and the the

trauma that not only the family endures but the people

of the community uh endures with this and and you

know like Mayor Gilbert alluded to I'm I'm asking our

partners in the media to be sensitive to that and

and to understand that there are loved ones that are

are left behind after this tragedy has unfolded

And and you know with some of the some of

the things that you're going to hear in the 911

calls in particular the call that came from Miss Raymond's

cellphone

Uh I would just say just think about it if

if it was your loved one on the other end

of that and how would you want that played out

uh for the world to see So with that being

said I will take some questions

I think maybe the first CBS 17 the first question

I think needs to go to the mayor

We know that police officers have professional grief councils that

they can deal with in situations like this Mr Mayor

If you step up to the microphone council

What can the town do at this point to try

and help the people in that neighborhood Beyond just offering

prayers and thoughts what can they do to try and

help them get through this dramatic moment One second I

think the most important thing to understand is that uh

this entire community is grieving

So when one meus community it's hurting we all do

So it's really important that we get to a healing

process and what we're the message today is for you

to help us with that

So if the media could step in and help us

get through that I think each and every member will

start to get to a healing process

So that's what we want to say

I'm considering some sort of memorial service or something like

that at one point to try and help the neighborhood

Sure I I would like to work with the police

department and the community and again uh work with the

families of course and and get to a healing for

our community

So absolutely

But before before the next question I want to address

that question also

Um And so some of the resources that we have

here in the AEX Police Department we have victim advocates

we have crisis counselors we have chaplains and our entire

networking team has been activated uh after this tragedy

Um And that's providing services and resources to the family

members that's services and resources to the people in that

community that have been impacted by this

And so every every ounce of our department and our

resources and everything that we have have been activated to

help people uh deal with what has gone on out

there into certain things

All right I'm sorry

Uh a ABC 11

It's it's been a few days

Have you been able to read perhaps what led up

to this You have to speak loud

I can hear the question

It's been a few days

Have you been able to glean any information What led

up to this I don't know if the suspect has

been cooperated but were there any indications that perhaps he

had an ho a associated issue A notice of some

sort Maybe he was fine what caused this So we

don't know uh what caused this

Uh We don't have anything um that we have uncovered

in our investigation at this time that points to you

know this was a potential catalyst to to this happening

Um Like I said it all started with that initial

call that we got uh Mr Harmon being outside and

his behavior out there is what prompted people to either

call us or look outside to see what was going

on

Um And and so we we haven't we haven't uncovered

anything

I've heard some of the rumors also about ho a

issues and things that's that's not anything that we've uncovered

uh as a part of our investigation that would suggest

it it contributed to to what happened out there that

day

She cat on from WRL

Do you believe that he intended to kill that ele

based on and got that back yard and another attract

a different kind of weapon So we can never say

definitively what's going on in somebody's mind and what somebody's

intentions are

Um But as a career law enforcement professional when we

see somebody pick up a weapon like that and then

they go outside they're normally intended to to use it

And so I I definitely believe um that the actions

of our officers out there and challenging him in that

backyard save lives that day

What time do you anticipate that those calls will be

It should be shortly just as soon as I can

get back inside and we can we can get everything

cleared up until the doctor do

You know We we we don't I mean they were

neighbors

Um They they lived in the same neighborhood

Uh they were all lived in the same general area

Um But beyond that uh I we're not aware of

any you know real association or connection between uh you

know

All right

Thank you all for coming out

So guys if you have specific email addresses that you'd

like to receive um the information from please uh write

that down on the table here and we'll get those

mobile calls to you