The Worcester Police Department released audio from a 911 call from before a man was shot and killed by officers.
Police in Worcester, Massachusetts, released audio Thursday from a 911 call made by the man killed during an April standoff with officers.
Officer Paul Cyr fatally shot 31-year-old Phet Gouvonvong during an encounter on April 21.
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The 911 call starts with the operator saying a man was claiming he had a bomb strapped to his back.
The caller, identified as Gouvonvong, says he also has an AR rifle in his hand, adding that he doesn't want to blow up.
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The call would last more than 30 minutes. At one point, the operator says she wants this to end peacefully as Gouvonvong questions why officers have not arrived yet.
Gouvonvong's family pressed investigators last month for more information about the encounter.
"They had no right taking my son's life. They had no right," Gouvonvong's mother, AnnMarie Gonzalez, said Thursday as she stood on Grafton Street in the area where her son died, the The Telegram & Gazette reported.
At one point, Gonzalez dropped to the ground and wept as traffic passed by.
Police found Gouvonvong on Grafton Street and said he was wearing body armor and had a backpack and what appeared to be a rifle, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early.
A police SWAT team joined several negotiators who tried to calm the man, Early said, and another negotiator reached him by phone. After about half an hour, the man grew more agitated and made a motion that provoked the shooting, Early said.
Police said they believe one officer fired several shots, and that Gouvonvong did not fire. Gouvonvong died at the scene.
Early said Gouvonvong had "what appeared to be an assault rifle" and an explosive device. Officers later recovered a handgun with multiple rounds of ammunition from the body.
Gonzalez said she found out her son was in a standoff and — calling from her Southbridge home — contacted Worcester police, hoping to talk to her son.
"They kept putting me through to people to people to people to people. Hold on. I let you talk to this one. Hold on," Gonzalez said. "They would not speak to me. I was there on the line for the whole time. I could have prevented this. I could have come down and stopped this. If they had him there for two hours, I could have stopped this."
Cyr has been an officer with the department for two decades, is a member of its SWAT team and works in the training division, Lt. Sean Murtha said. He was placed on administrative leave after the shooting.
