A St. Paul woman was on the phone with dispatchers when she learned her husband had been shot trying to help someone who had just been in a car crash, a transcript of the 911 call shows.
Javier Sanmiguel's wife, Kayla, told dispatchers that shots had been fired after the crash in front of their Payne-Phalen home. While she was on the phone, she asked a man next to her if he knew who had been shot. He said, "Javier."
She began screaming, "No!" according to the transcript, which was released Wednesday.
The dispatcher tried to get her attention as the man kept her from going outside, saying that the shooter was still out there.
"He's reloading. He's reloading," the man said.
Sanmiguel's wife began screaming. "My husband was shot! Please, get over here please! My husband was shot! Please, please please! [Crying, screaming]," the transcript shows.
The harrowing call came as Sanmiguel, 31, was shot in the head and killed about 10 p.m. Monday night after the crash at the intersection of Case Avenue and Edgerton Street. He had rushed out to help after one vehicle crashed into another, which then slammed into a parked car.
Police and witnesses said the driver who had caused the crash curled up and hid in his car. He then began wildly shooting at Sanmiguel and another man when they approached. Police arrested Lionel Keejuan Eaton, 27. He faces murder charges.
A neighbor also called 911, saying someone had crashed into her car.
"We went out there," the caller said. "The person was hiding in the back of the car. And he shot somebody! He shot somebody!"
As the dispatcher was getting the caller's address, she cried, "He's shooting! He's still shooting!"
Victim lived 'selflessly'
Neighbors said Sanmiguel was a father of four, all under age 7, and that he had recently gotten his dream job as an interpreter.
"The Sanmiguel family would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this difficult time," the family said in a statement. "They will greatly miss Javier, a man of deep commitment to his Catholic faith and his family. Helping others came naturally, so it comes as no surprise to those who knew him that Javier died like he lived, selflessly serving others. Thank you for respecting the family's privacy as they move forward without their beloved son, husband, father and friend."
Sanmiguel was one of three St. Paul men shot to death in a nine-hour stretch of violence between Monday afternoon and early Tuesday that unfolded across three neighborhoods. So far this year, 114 people have been shot in St. Paul and 19 slain.
Raumez Ross, 18, was killed while walking in the North End neighborhood and Nickey Taylor, 27, was shot in a car in the Frogtown neighborhood.
In addition to adding extra patrols, the Police Department is establishing a task force to help with homicide and gang investigations and plans to employ new technology to better analyze surveillance video related to gun crimes, St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell said Tuesday.
'Everyday hero'
In an online fundraiser for Sanmiguel's family, people remembered him as a loving family man and "an everyday hero." With an outpouring of support from the community, the fundraiser had topped its $50,000 goal in less than a day.
Greg Stanley • 612-673-4882
