911 audio tape in Darrien Hunt’s death seems to contradict police’s story
Audio recording of the 911 call seems to contradict what cops first said about the incident that led to the death of Darrien Hunt, a young black man from Utah.
Saratoga Springs Police previously said they were called to investigate a “suspicious individual” carrying a sword at a strip mall. That individual turned out to be 22-year-old Darrien Hunt. Police would eventually gun Hunt down after they claimed he lunged at them with the sword. However, The Guardian is reporting that the 911 call never referred to Hunt as a “suspicious individual” but says he was “just walking.”
LISTEN TO AUDIO OF THE 911 CALL HERE
The Guardian also points out that under state law, Hunt would be legally permitted to walk down the street with a sword — even it was real. Hunt’s family lawyer Randall Edwards said the sword was a replica that Darrien was likely using to role play as an anime character. Edwards also said that an independent autopsy shows the Darrien was shot six times from behind, which he says proves that Darrien was running away when police opened fire.
But police brushed off what seems like a contradiction as a matter of semantics. Sartoga Springs Police Chief Andrew Burton told the local Fox news station that the fact that Hunt was walking around with a sword made him suspicious to the 911 operator.
“She felt like the caller indicated, ‘Hey the guy’s got a samurai sword,’ which is not something you run into very often, so that bit of information caused some concern,” Burton said.
