SMYRNA, Maine — The transcript of an emergency 911 call gives little information about what transpired just before a 61-year-old Smyrna man was shot after an armed confrontation with law enforcement officers last month, or who was on the line with the dispatcher seeking help.
On Feb. 10, Kenneth Kreyssig was shot and killed after an incident involving Maine State Police Sgt. Chad Fuller and Deputy Stewart Kennedy of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland.
Fuller and Kennedy were not injured, but both were placed on administrative leave with pay, which is standard procedure in the aftermath of an officer-involved shooting.
The transcript of the 911 call was received through a Freedom of Access Request made by the Bangor Daily News to the state Department of Public Safety. It details a 14-line conversation between the caller, who is not identified, and an emergency communications specialist.
Several portions of the transcript have been redacted, including the first line stating the nature of the emergency.
The shooting occurred just before 8 p.m. inside a home on Smyrna Center Road, according to McCausland. Smyrna is located about 14 miles west of Houlton.
McCausland said Kreyssig lived with his elderly mother, and police were called to the home after family members reported he was suicidal.
According to the transcript, the caller states the nature of the emergency and then expresses concern about sudden activity outside.
“Something is going on out here — there are three vehicles just pulled up over across the street on the other side of the road parked and shut the headlights off,” the caller states in the transcript.
The emergency communications specialist asks for the caller’s name twice, according to the transcript, but because of background noise and confusion, does not hear it at first.
When the name is confirmed, the dispatcher says, “I will let the trooper know,” and puts the caller on hold, according to the transcript.
After the dispatcher comes back on the line and confirms the caller is still there, the caller is still focused on whoever is outside.
“Somebody is knocking on the door right now, I can hear them outside,” the caller says in the transcript. “This is odd, because we live in the middle of the woods, and there shouldn’t be three cars out there.”
The next exclamatory statement, which is attributed to the specialist, is redacted.
“Yes, I’m sorry, I’m listening,” the caller says in the transcript.
The dispatcher then tells the caller that they should be “all set.”
“What’s going on?” the caller says in the transcript.
The transcript then notes that there is audio interference, followed by the dispatcher asking the caller, “Are you there?”
No verbal response is heard, and the transcript ends.
Police have not released information about which officer fired shots or whether Kreyssig died at the Smyrna home.
Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall indicated late last month that his office had not had any police contact with Kreyssig until Feb. 9, when deputies were sent to the Brookside Inn, a motel and restaurant on U.S. Route 2 in Smyrna, in response to a call about a dispute between Kreyssig and his mother.
Crandall said that the two had gotten into an argument, but she did not want to file any charges against him. The sheriff said the two were separated, and Kreyssig stayed somewhere else that evening.
The next night, however, Kreyssig’s brother contacted the sheriff’s office and requested that police go to 645 Smyrna Center Road and check on his mother.
He told police that there were guns in the home.
Fuller has been with the state police for 15 years and is a police dog handler for the northern Troop F.
Kennedy is a 2009 graduate of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and worked for the Houlton Police Department for five years before joining the Sheriff’s Office.