911 calls released by an Alabama police department reveals the harrowing moment police took down an armed home invasion suspect with two young children inside the house earlier this year.
In the call, a 9-year-old girl tells emergency dispatchers in Tarrant, Alabama, that she and her 10-year-old brother are hiding in the bathroom as an invader roams their home.
“A black guy has busted into our house,” the girl said in the 911 call, provided to ABC News by the Tarrant Police Department.
The girl tells the emergency dispatcher that the man is wearing a black shirt before asking her to quickly send help.
“Can you please hurry up?” the girl politely asks.
The dispatcher tells the girl that the police are outside, and the girl informs the dispatcher that the family’s puppy is barking at the man.
Responding officers can be heard coordinating their positions over the radio, and at one point, one officer announces that he will make entry after seeing that the suspect was armed.
“He has a gun in his hands,” the officer said. “I’m busting the front door open.”
Meanwhile, the emergency dispatcher instructs the children to lie in the bathtub or on the bathroom floor, telling them not to open the door.
After some commotion, the girl can be heard crying as she tells responding officers, “Thank you very much.”
Emergency dispatchers received the 911 around 10 a.m. on May 29, the Tarrant Police Department said in a statement.
After officers made entry into the home, the suspect jumped out of a bedroom window and ran into a crawl space under the house, police said.
Both children were taken safely from the home, and the suspect, identified as 26-year-old Christopher Rian McGhee, was taken into custody.
Investigators later discovered that McGhee allegedly burglarized another home in the neighborhood earlier that morning, police said.
McGhee was indicted in October on charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
McGhee could not be reached for comment. It is unclear if McGhee has retained an attorney.
Earlier this week, officers from the Tarrant Police Department presented the children with Christmas presents, ABC Birmingham affiliate WBMA reported.
Erik and Onayda Francisco were “surprised” by the gesture, they said. While Onayda “started crying,” both children told the station how grateful they were for the officers.
“First they saved us, and now they’re donating Christmas,” Erik said. “My parents can’t really afford gifts, so I’m happy for that.”
