Parramore shooting may have been sparked by cell phone robbery

Minutes after shooting a 16-year-old boy in Parramore on Wednesday, the shooter called 911 and told dispatchers he’d opened fire because the teenager was robbing him, a recording released Friday shows.

“We discharged our firearm at them when I thought he was pulling a firearm on me,” the man said, calling from a nearby 7-Eleven where he and his pregnant wife had driven after the shooting.

The man, who has not been named by police, said he had arranged to sell an iPhone X through Letgo, an app which allows users to buy and sell used items, and met up with one of the buyers at their agreed-upon location on Polk Street.

After charging and unlocking the phone, the husband said another person approached them. One of the buyers “looked like he was reaching for something,” and the other took off running, he said. “And they have the phone too, they also took the phone,” the man said.

Police said the husband opened fire, striking 16-year-old Denim Williams. Authorities have not said whether Williams or the other person involved were carrying weapons.

The husband said he saw the pair get in a red car before he and his wife hopped into their white Honda and drove to the gas station at Colonial Drive and Magnolia Avenue.

The wife told dispatchers they fled for fear of retaliation. “This is horrible,” she said. Williams died at the scene. No charges have been filed against the couple as authorities continue to investigate, police said.

Witnesses on Polk Street detailed the chaotic scene to dispatchers, describing “firecracker” gunshots and young men running down the street: “A guy’s chasing another guy, shooting at him,” one woman driving away from the area said.

Another caller described seeing Williams wounded inside the red car, which veered into the yard of a home and crashed into a parked car.

“First we heard two shots, then I looked out the window and there were two more shots,” the caller said.

Authorities blocked off a portion of Jefferson Street and the front of an apartment building across from the shooting as dozens of concerned residents filed into the street.

Behind the building on Hill Street, Williams’ family awaited information from authorities.

“He was just an average boy,” Williams’ aunt Faith Durrell said Wednesday. “He wasn’t the type of person that created problems. He didn’t run from it, but he didn’t create it either.”

Williams’ family on Friday started a GoFundMe page, asking for donations to help with expenses related to the teen’s death. The page raised $150 by Friday afternoon.

The local nonprofit Let Your Voice Be Heard is also hosting a fundraiser Saturday afternoon at the Dr. J B Callahan Community Center on Parramore Avenue, where they said money raised through donations will benefit Williams’ family.