Audio has been released capturing the moment when an Ohio man made a distressing call to police, threatening to harm his seven-year-old daughter.
On November 11, Charles Alexander lost his life after being shot by state troopers following a high-speed pursuit and a tense stand-off in a fast-food restaurant parking lot located in Medina Township, Ohio.
Alexander, who did not have custody of his daughter, picked her up at approximately 3.00pm and drove erratically. When he refused to stop for police, a chase ensued. During the pursuit, he called 911, telling the dispatcher to instruct police to ‘back off’.
The released audio captures the 43-year-old’s daughter expressing fear, saying he was frightening her.
Alexander is heard telling the dispatcher, “I need them to not approach this car, tell them I am going to off us both if they don’t back off stay back,” while shouting at the officers to ‘stay back’ or he will ‘shoot us both’.
His daughter can be heard pleading ‘please don’t’ and asking the dispatcher to inform them of her presence.
Alexander demands, “I want to talk to her mother!”
The frightened girl tells her father, “Don’t aim it at me, it scares me.”
He attempts to reassure her with an apology, saying ‘I’m sorry’, to which she responds: “Don’t aim at me, you promise? It scares me.”
A different 911 dispatcher inquires if both are alright and if his daughter is safe, receiving the response: “For now.”
The little girl then asks a poignant question: “How do you know you’re going to heaven?”
Alexander tells her ‘we’re both going’ and when she asks, “I’m going to heaven?” she begins to plead: ‘I don’t want to go to heaven today,’ which causes Alexander to break down in tears. “Am I going to heaven today? I don’t want to go to heaven today,” she continues to plead.
“You promise you’re not going to let me go to heaven?”
After an extended stand-off and several gunshots, a trooper ultimately shot Alexander, resulting in his death.
During a subsequent press conference, a police official stated: “A member of the Ohio State Highway Patrol special response team did neutralize the threat, and I will say this, that decision is never made easy.
“It’s a difficult situation for that trooper, but that act alone right then saved this little girl, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
The Medina County Sheriff’s office released a statement revealing that Alexander was pronounced dead at the scene, while his daughter was ‘safely recovered from the scene and returned to family members without injury’.