911 calls detail moments after trooper's shooting

Authorities released two 911 calls Wednesday in the shooting of a North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper who was injured in the line of duty Monday evening.

Passing motorists made the calls shortly after Trooper Michael L. Potts was shot during a traffic stop around 6:15 p.m. on U.S. Highway 70 near Cheek Road in Durham during a traffic stop.

"(The trooper) went up to the window," one caller said. "The officer took a glance at the road and turned his head back, and there were a few shots fired. The officer hit the ground."

A black Nissan Maxima then sped off, leaving the trooper behind.

"I just saw a car, and the car's not there anymore," another caller said.

Authorities say Mikel Edward Brady, 23, of 800 White Pine Drive, shot Potts from the driver's seat at an "extraordinarily close" range in both of Potts' hands, his right shoulder and the right side of his face.

Potts, who joined the Highway Patrol in 2001, was listed in fair condition Wednesday at Duke University Hospital. He has been alert and conscious, even making jokes, friends have said.

"It was pretty miraculous that he survived," Kieran Shanahan, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference Tuesday. "He made it back to his cruiser and really maintained his professionalism and was able to give a description."

Brady, who is from Raldolph, Vt., was captured Tuesday morning at an apartment complex in Raleigh and was arrested on one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

He was in the Durham County jail Wednesday under an $8 million bond as well as a $2.5 million bond on a felony absconder charge in Vermont.

Brady said nothing during his first court appearance, where he was appointed a public defender.

It's unclear what brought him to North Carolina. Court documents indicate that he does construction work and makes about $1,000 per month.

A pregnant woman at his apartment Wednesday did not want to talk about the charges he faces.

According to court records, Brady was released from a Vermont state prison in June after serving 33 months on numerous charges, including those stemming from a violent home invasion as well as four burglaries.

He had been wanted on a probation violation since October, when he was accused of deer poaching.