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A 911 call from an undercover NYPD detective exposed a glimpse of the chaos and uncertainty left in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting.

The prosecution played in court Tuesday a CD containing the hurried conversation between Det. Hispolito Sanchez and an emergency dispatcher just as the last of the shells from the 50 rounds that were fired by police hit the ground around Bell’s Nissan Altima.

Sanchez, unarmed and without a vest, hunkered down for cover inside a doorway on 94th Avenue around the corner from Liverpool Street where the shooting took place. He dialed 911 after notifying a backup officer of the Club Enforcement Initiative that shots had been fired.

“I am a New York police officer,” an audibly shaken Sanchez began, “there are shots fired.”

But Sanchez was unable to deliver an address or even a cross street to the dispatcher who pleaded with him for more information during the entire call, which lasted more than two minutes.

“Call a bus! Call a bus! Call a bus!” was the request in the background.

“Who’s injured?” asked the dispatcher.

“I don’t have that information,” Sanchez replied.

The detective later rushed a “two perps shot” to the woman on the other end of the line.

“Two perps shot where?” she immediately inquired.
No answer.

Bell’s fiancée, Nicole Paultre Bell, shook her head in disgust as the frantic voices blared from the courtroom speakers.

Sanchez came in contact with fellow Det. Michael Oliver while still on the phone with the dispatcher. He told Assistant District Attorney Charles Testagrossa he did not recall seeing Oliver’s shield displayed, but later admitted during Oliver attorney James Culleton’s cross-examination that “[Oliver] may have had a shield on, but I wasn’t looking for that.”

NYPD Lt. Michael Wheeler, who was a sergeant in the 103rd Precinct at the time of the incident, was part of the second uniformed police unit to arrive on the scene. He testified Tuesday that after quickly surveying the wreckage he encountered a black man holding a gun. Wheeler ordered the man, later identified as Det. Marc Cooper, to lower his weapon and holster it. Wheeler said he “did not take notice” if Cooper was wearing his shield.

Wheeler said Cooper informed him that he had fired his weapon, though Cooper was unsure of how many times. Wheeler also briefly interviewed Detectives Gescard “Jesse” Isnora, Paul Headley and Oliver. Wheeler stated that both Isnora, who fired 11 times, and Headley, who fired once, told him they had used their weapons but, like Cooper, did not know how many rounds they spent.

When Wheeler asked Oliver if he fired his weapon, Wheeler told the court Oliver replied that he “did not recall.”
Culleton countered with Wheeler’s grand jury testimony, where the 14-year veteran originally stated that Oliver did acknowledged firing his 9mm, but wasn’t sure how many times.

It was later learned that Oliver fired 31 shots, including two that killed Bell. Bell’s friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, were also injured in the incident.