911 Call Shows Wife's Anguish In Short Hills Mall Shooting
SHORT HILLS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- As her husband lay dying with a gunshot wound to his head, a frantic Jamie Friedland made a desperate call to 911 pleading for help -- help that might have taken as long as 30 minutes to arrive.
"Yes, it's an emergency!" Jamie Friedland said in the call, screaming. "I'm at the Short Hills mall parking lot, and my husband has been shot! He called an ambulance a half an hour ago! Where is he?"
Millburn police said they arrived within one minute of the initial call, while trained police officers tried to save the life of Dustin Friedland, who was gunned down in the parking garage of The Mall at Short Hills during a Dec. 15 carjacking. Police told CBS 2 that 17 to 18 minutes passed before an ambulance from the Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad arrived at the scene.
911 Call Shows Wife's Anguish In Short Hills Mall Shooting
Millburn police Chief Gregory Weber, however, said that once the ambulance arrived, it had trouble getting to Friedland because it couldn't fit beneath a low ceiling. Crews eventually wheeled a stretcher up to the level where Friedman was shot. He died hours later.
It was unclear who placed the initial 911 call.
The Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad declined to comment. According to the volunteer squad, it is the primary EMS agency for the Millburn and Short Hills area.
911 Call Shows Wife's Anguish In Short Hills Mall Shooting
As crucial minutes passed, the 911 operator attempted to calm Jamie Friedland by explaining the ambulance would arrive soon.
"They're on their way, ma'am," the operator said.
"When? When? When? ... Give me a time!" Friedland shouted back.
The Millburn Police Department said that it took 17 to 18 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the parking garage, CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported. Millburn police added that cops were on the scene within a minute of the first call while trained police officers attempted to save Dustin.
The Friedlands were leaving the upscale shopping center when they were confronted by two armed men as they were getting into their 2012 Range Rover on the third-floor parking deck, prosecutors said.
A struggle ensued when the men allegedly demanded the keys to the SUV, authorities said. Dustin Friedland may have been trying to protect his wife, who was already in the vehicle when the suspects put a gun to his head, sources said.
Dustin Friedland was shot in the head. Jamie was unharmed.
The Range Rover was found the next morning at an abandoned, boarded-up house on Renner Avenue in Newark, about 11 miles from where the fatal shooting took place. Its rear windshield was shattered.
Prosecutors have said the couple was targeted because of their expensive vehicle.
Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington; Karif Ford, 31, of Newark; Basim Henry, 32, of Newark; and Kevin Roberts, 33, of Newark, are all charged with murder, felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. They all pleaded not guilty last week.
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