WYOMING, Mich., -- Less than a month after a Wyoming Department of Public Safety officer was shot in the line of duty, FOX 17 has obtained the 911 call made by the wife of the man who opened fire at officers outside his home on Himes Street on January 29th.
Nicole James spoke with a dispatcher for 15 minutes, trying to seek help after days of heavy drinking with her husband, 31-year-old Alan James.
"We've both been drinking heavily and I need it to stop," James told the dispatcher. When asked how much alcohol the couple had consumed, she replied "Probably a fifth a day, for quite a few days."
Throughout the call, yelling can be heard in the background, along with what sounds like a struggle at times. James denies being assaulted by her husband on the phone, but maintains that she needs an ambulance and medical help.
The situation escalates when James relays to the dispatcher that her husband has pulled out his guns and refuses to put them away.
"Do you know if they're loaded or not?" asks the dispatcher. James answers "They're loaded."
James repeatedly asks her husband to put the guns away as officers make their way to the home. At one point, the dispatcher even asks to put the call on speakerphone so she can plead with Alan James directly.
When asked why James had taken the weapons out, Nicole mentions her husbands concerns about ISIS and the government.
Eventually, James leaves the house on her own ahead of her husband. He exited moments later, armed with a gun. He opened fire, shooting and injuring Officer Frank Hartuniewicz, 15-year veteran of the department. After spending a few hours in the hospital, he was released shortly after the incident and is expected to make a full recovery.
James was shot when officers returned fire. After spending days in the hospital on life support, he passed away earlier this month.
An attorney for the family said James had been on medication which may have contributed to his behavior that day.
