By PORTER McLEOD – News Writer
The murder of Trayvon Martin has sparked national outcry.
The first call to a 911 operator in the Trayvon Martin murder came in on Feb. 26 from George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman from Sanford, Fla.
Trayvon Martin, 17, was the victim of the Feb. 26 shooting in a neighborhood in Sanford, Fla. Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel.
Zimmerman gave the operator a description of a young black male who appeared to be “up to no good,” with his hands in his waist band looking around at the local homes. He then told dispatcher that the suspicious man was trying to run away and the dispatcher quickly reacted by telling him not to follow the boy, however Zimmerman disregarded that command.
A witness soon called 911 and said she was observing two men fighting and yelling right outside of her home. In the background, what may have been a boy shrieking and then the sound of a gunshot can be heard. The audio is still being investigated by authorities.
What isn’t in dispute is that when Martin, the 17-year-old black male, was shot and killed he was only in possession a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
According to Martin’s parents, Martin was walking home from a local 7-eleven back to his father’s home in the community where he was murdered. The 17-year-old black male, was shot and killed possessing a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
George Zimmerman was released from police custody after shooting Trayvon Martin in what he claimed was self defense. Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel.
Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime and he alleges he was acting in self-defense.
Martin’s family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, has been fighting the legal system for weeks asking that Zimmerman be arrested for murder.
“All the world is watching to see how this is going to conclude,” Crump said in a press conference with ABC News. “We want an arrest.”
The Martins have also proclaimed that if the shooter was black and the victim was white, the police department would be handling things much differently. But the Sanford police chief denied that race has played a factor in the Martin investigation.
Sanford police said that they had handed the case over to the State Attorney’s office to see what will happen next.
Martin’s family is reaching out to federal personnel to take over the case, saying that they have “lost all faith in Sanford police department.”
