The incident began about 1:30 a.m. Monday with a call to 911.
An operator asks the caller what's going on and the caller responds, "And there's this guy that's standing outside in the middle of the circle with a shotgun and he's walking back and forth."
Police say the man with the shotgun was Careem Leggett, a 19-year-old with a history of mental problems. It didn't take long for the situation to nearly turn deadly for two officers.
As the situation unfolded, an officer maintained communication with dispatch. "Shots fired! Shots fired! Officer down! Officer Down! Where are you? 1522 Argon! 1522 Argon! Officer down! Officer down!"
Malachy Quillen, a 32-year-old rookie officer, was shot in the chest.
"We need fire medic," one officer said. "Officer down…shotgun wound!"
"Got them en route, got them en route," the dispatcher replied. "Where is he at?"
"He's behind 1522 Argon," the officer said.
Officer Doug Nicolosi continued to track the suspect despite being slightly wounded by shotgun pellets.
"City be advised that subject is running back towards Ruby," Nicolosi said. "I just got hit with bird shot. Subject's running back towards Ruby. 10-4. He was behind same the left rear side. He took a shot at myself and 369 and then disappeared behind the residence."
Three, six, nine is officer Quillen's badge number. As he fought for his life, a small army of police officers flooded Tiffany Pines. An all night standoff took place when Leggett barricaded himself inside his home. Police say in addition to wounding two officers, Leggett shot his brother before killing himself.
Leggett's brother is going to be okay. The two officers also are okay. Quillen was released from Cape Fear Valley Medical Center Thursday and is recovering at home.
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