Police believe the shooter may have lured them to a North Raleigh shopping center last Friday. The call came several hours after 53-year-old Jody Simmons was shot to death in his truck outside a North Raleigh auto parts store.
The caller said he found something weird behind the Creedmoor Crossings Shopping Center a few miles from the murder scene.
Dispatcher: "Like what?"
Caller: "Like some bottles and some plastic bags and things that just look strange. They're behind the shopping center on Creedmoor Road where the Food Lion is."
Minutes later when police arrived, they heard a gunshot then saw a man with a shotgun duck behind a dumpster, according to a report sent Friday to the Raleigh city manager. It said two officers ordered the man to put the gun down. Instead, they said he came at them firing.
One officer was hit in the arm. They returned fire -- hitting the suspect in the torso.
In the days after the murder, a friend of the murder victim heard the 911 call and immediately drew his own conclusion.
"It's the shooter," said Greg Paul. "He was looking for death by cop."
Now, police may be thinking the same thing.
The report said the 911 caller was evasive including when he was asked to repeat his phone number.
Dispatcher: "That's not the phone number you gave me."
Caller: "I'm using someone else's phone right now. So, you know..."
According to the report, it also wasn't the phone number showing up on caller ID.
However, police said the number that did show up belonged to the suspect, 53-year-old Matthew Calton.
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