CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- During a busy night for law enforcement, Chesterfield Police said they received 62 total calls for service countywide Friday evening as a high school graduation party that turned deadly was happening.
The adult female owner of the house was there at the time but was not supervising the party; her grandson was the party's host. There were persons over age 18 attending the party, but none was supervising the party. At this time, we are not looking at charging the homeowner.
Police said 20-year-old Taborri Carter was shot and killed after two fights broke out at the party around 10:20 p.m. Five other young people were shot but survived. Two additional teens were injured as they tried to escape the chaotic scene.
A spokesperson for the Chesterfield police department, Liz Caroon, said citizens made five calls to police about a rowdy party on Stepney Road in the Chester area before gunshots rang out. Police said they could not respond to those initial calls because officers were handling five other calls that took priority.
CBS 6 requested additional information about the five disturbance calls regarding the party and what neighbors reported. On Monday, Caroon provided the following breakdown of those calls:
9:38 p.m. – A large number of vehicles swerving in the neighborhood and people being loud at the party
9:44 p.m. – Someone is on top of a vehicle, more vehicles are arriving
10:04 p.m. – This caller shared the same information as previous callers
10:06 p.m. – A large number of juveniles, about 50-100, in the street
10:19 p.m. – About 30 kids outside partying, being loud/yelling, and physically fighting
The call for gunshots came in at 10:21 p.m. and that's when officers dropped other calls to respond.
CBS 6 also asked for an expanded timeline of the five other incidents that took priority over the initial disturbance calls along with how many officers assisted. Caroon provided an in-depth breakdown:
7:58 p.m. – Suspicious person call entered. The caller reported that unknown suspects were seen pulling on car door handles. Officers ended up apprehending several juveniles, at least one of whom had a firearm, and transporting them to juvenile detention. A total of 16 officers were on this call. (Two of the officers left this call to go to the next call, and others ended up on other calls throughout the evening.) The call cleared at 12:39 a.m. on Saturday, 6/4.
9:19 p.m. – Disturbance call entered. The caller reported a dispute between a group home resident and staff. The issue was resolved with the advice given. A total of four officers were on this call. The call cleared at 9:52 p.m. on 6/3. (Note: Two officers left this call to go to the next call, which was for the suicidal subject; when the other two officers cleared this call, they went to the DUI crash.)
9:38 p.m. – Suicide call entered. The caller reported a suicidal juvenile was threatening to burn the residence and kill himself. A total of three officers were on this call. This call cleared at 12:41 a.m. on 6/4.
9:50 p.m. – Vehicle crash with injuries call entered. The caller reported two vehicles were involved in a head-on crash; one of the drivers ended up being found to be driving under the influence and was arrested. A total of seven officers were on this call. This call cleared at 1:07 a.m. on 6/4.
9:54 p.m. – Abduction call entered. The caller reported an adult female was being held captive at a location. It ended up being a disturbance and cleared up with the advice given. A total of 14 officers were on this call. This call cleared at 10:52 p.m. on 6/3. Most of the officers on this call left when the shooting call came in to respond to that scene.
Caroon said 43 total officers were on duty across the county Friday night. 13 officers were working in the Appomattox patrol division where the shooting took place, but every officer was tied up when disturbance calls regarding the party came in. Caroon said units from other patrol divisions were pulled to Appomattox to assist with calls.
During a press conference on Saturday, Major Brad Badgerow said officers would have been at the party earlier in the night had other calls not taken priority. He said there was nothing officers could've done to prevent the party from getting out of control.
"I think if we had a crystal ball and we knew what was going on, then we might have been able to do something else," Badgerow said. "But under the circumstances, we need to go on the priority calls, and that's what we did. When this one became a priority. We were there."
Though a flier promoting the party, with no address, circulated social media ahead of time, Badgerow said police were not aware of it in advance.
"In that case, we're able to get our community engagement folks on it, our analysts, our media folks, and really look into what that might be and have a plan. In this case, we didn't have that heads up, so it's certainly unfortunate," he said.
