911 calls detail horror of Fayetteville shooting rampage
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- 911 calls released Friday detail what happened right before and during a horrific shooting rampage that left three dead in Cumberland County and several deputies injured.
Authorities said the incident began around 7 a.m. Wednesday with a domestic dispute between 41-year-old Andrew "Jay" Michaelis and his wife, 41-year-old Valerie Michaelis. The woman called 911 for help after an argument began at their home on Bramblegate Road.
Valerie Michaelis told the 911 operator that the pair was in the process of separating.
"And I turned around and he had his rifle to my head and he was trying to force me upstairs," she said.
She said she was able to take the gun away from him.
"And then he pulled his knife out and tried to choke me ... and put the knife to my throat," she continued.
She said her husband was trying to tie her hands together and threatened to kill her son.
The woman said her hand was cut getting away. She then drove to the home of her father, 61-year-old Gary Simpson, at the Crystal Springs Mobile Home Park on New Moon Drive.
While she and six others were inside the home, authorities said Michaelis drove by the home and fired an AR-15 assault rifle into the home, discharging 60 rounds in all.
Two people inside were killed -- Simpson and his grandson, 10-year-old Trekwan Covington.
Another 911 call was made right after the shooting started from another location.
"My brother-in-law just came and shot my son," said a frantic caller. "I need somebody to pray with me."
And then a distraught person called again to say his grandfather had been shot.
Michaelis drove away and then returned -- firing another magazine of shots into the home. On the third time he returned, deputies, who were now inside the home, were struck by gunfire.
A 911 operator was still on the phone with a person in the home.
"Please everybody get down," the person says. "He pull down the street. I see in the white truck, Chevrolet."
After the shooting, deputies chased Michaelis through nearby woods where he died in a shootout with officers.
One deputy was shot in the chest, back and shoulder during the shootout. He is recovering at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. A second deputy suffered a grazing wound to his head, while a third suffered minor bruising when a bullet struck her duty belt, which prevented the bullet from entering her body.
Another deputy escaped injury when a bullet penetrated his uniform but didn't strike his body. A state Highway Patrol trooper suffered a shrapnel wound when a bullet went through his vehicle.
