The body of former KwaZulu-Natal club rugby player Lindani Myeni arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Saturday just after police in Hawaii released an audio of the 911 emergency call that led to his fatal shooting in the US island state.
Myeni was shot during an altercation with three police officers who responded to a burglary call two weeks ago at a house in Nuuanu, where he lived with his wife Lindsay and two children.
@The_DSD Minister Lindiwe Zulu delivers a message on behalf of @GovernmentZA at the Repatriation and Prayer service of Lindani Myeni taking place at the OR Tambo International Airport. #LindaniMyeni pic.twitter.com/36MmpvicNP
— KZN Provincial Gov (@kzngov) May 1, 2021
Partial body cam footage and a report by Hawaii police showed Myeni, who hailed from the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, in an altercation with the officers. Lindsay has repeatedly called for police to release all the body cam footage.
The Myeni family attorney Jim Bickerton told SABC news that the tapes were released after they issued a notice to depose the caller whom they had identified, the broadcaster reported on Saturday.
The 911 call, lasting about 10 minutes, begins with a distraught woman saying, “Please, please leave.” She goes on to say there is a man in the house who she did not know, saying he was from SA.
Here's the 911 call that preceded the fatal shooting of Lindani Myeni by Honolulu police officers earlier this month: https://t.co/DcteTmXUt5
— Christina Jedra (@ChristinaJedra) May 1, 2021
“He's inside but he's close to the front door,” she says while being questioned by the operator who says police officers are on the way.
The caller becomes increasingly desperate, crying and screaming. Police arrive and gunshots can be heard. “Oh my God. Shots fired,” says the 911 operator.
