A security guard tried to break up a fight outside a Las Vegas Walmart before gunfire erupted inside the store and police killed the gunman, according to 911 calls released Wednesday.
In the first call in the 43-minute recording, the guard described a “big fight” involving four people outside the store.
“I need you guys here now,” he said repeatedly.
Separately, the guard told those involved in the fight, “It’s not worth it … I’m trying to stop you from going to jail.”
Police have said 28-year-old Kwame Swain was fighting with his girlfriend, Zsejhuana Saunders, outside the front entrance of the store near Boulder Highway and Nellis Boulevard, as two women approached around 6 a.m. on July 21.
Swain “said something” to the women, identified as Ameea Blue, 30, and Raqiya Halima Smith, 25, and the four exchanged words before Blue tried to punch Swain, who swung back, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.
The guard gave the dispatcher more details about the fight, saying that people were throwing rocks at each other. Meanwhile, people yelled profanities at each other in the background.
At one point, the guard threatened to use pepper spray and told the people fighting to leave the property.
Less than a minute later, gunshots rang out on the audio.
“Watch out. Watch out,” the guard yelled.
Police have said that, during the fight, Smith called her husband, Travis Ward, 35, and told him to bring a gun.
Ward walked into the store, pulled a gun from his waist and shot Swain once near the entrance, according to police.
Ward tried to shoot a second time but his gun malfunctioned, according to his arrest report. He was then shot several times by Metro officer Cristobal Magana, 29, police said.
In a later call, a woman wailed, asking the dispatcher for an ambulance. She said her husband had just been shot and begged an unidentified person to be near him as he bled out.
Authorities said Swain was transported to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in critical condition, but his condition had stabilized by Friday. Ward was pronounced dead on the scene.
A woman who identified herself as Ward’s sister also called 911 from Texas, saying that Smith, a fugitive on unrelated charges, told her she fled the scene with Blue.
“They just took off,” the woman told the dispatcher. “We’re trying to wrap our heads around what is going on because why would you leave the scene if this is your husband? You called him up there.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
