Deputies who killed man were investigating assault

Johnston County sheriff's deputies who shot and killed a Kenly man last month had gone to his home after EMS workers reported that a woman had been assaulted there and that someone at the scene had a gun, according to tapes of 911 calls made public today.

Reggie Witcher, 54, died after he was shot at his home by two Johnston sheriff's deputies about 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22.

The sheriff's office said that Witcher opened fire on deputies A.J. Case and J.K. Garner, prompting them to return fire. Wayne Mooney, a neighbor who was at the home that night, has said that Witcher did not fire, but was trying to put his shotgun away when deputies shot him.

Earlier that evening, Mooney called 911 when his wife, Jenny Mooney, fell and could not be roused. The couple had gone to the Witchers' home to celebrate their birthdays, Mooney said in an interview the day after the incident.

An apparently impaired Wayne Mooney called 911 about 8:25 p.m. that night and told the dispatcher that his wife had fallen about three feet and was barely breathing. He said that the group had been cooking a pig and drinking that day.

"I have a woman down that ... she's in bad shape out here in the front yard," Mooney said. "She fell down, and she's hurt really bad."

When the dispatcher asked where she was injured, Mooney replied, "around her throat."

The EMS crew that responded called for backup from sheriff's deputies, saying that Jenny Mooney was the victim of an assault and that the group was "extremely intoxicated." In another call, a member of the crew reported that someone at the scene had a gun.

In a subsequent call, Case said that a man had been shot in the head and that a deputy had been shot. Garner then said that he had not been shot but had some shrapnel from a shotgun blast in his face.

"No pulse, no breathing," Garner said of Witcher.

They also called for an EMS crew to return to the scene.

The tapes of the two 911 calls were released today under the order of Superior Court Judge Tom Lock, who had sealed them last week at the request of Johnston District Attorney Susan Doyle.

The sheriff's office has refused to respond to further questions about the incident, citing an ongoing investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, which routinely investigates cases in which officers use deadly force. Garner and Case are on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of that investigation.