Kim Sanders Barker called 911 in a panic at 5:55 p.m. last Wednesday and told the operator that her husband, Marquis, was in the middle of the street holding what she believed was a pellet gun, according to a police report obtained by the Globe.
But in the minutes that followed, 911 operators received calls from frantic neighbors in Dorchester about a man with a gun in the street. And police, according to transcripts released yesterday by the Boston Police Department, did not know how lethal Marquis Barker's weapon was when they confronted him on the corner of Norfolk and Morton streets in Mattapan. When he refused to drop the gun, officers fatally shot him.
Police yesterday released 14 pages detailing 911 calls from that night, starting with Barker and ending with a terrified caller who heard police firing on Barker, who had been a jail officer with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department for the past 17 years.
Members of his family have questioned whether police could have subdued Barker without killing him.
After the shooting, police learned that Barker had been holding an air pis tol officers described as a replica of a semiautomatic handgun.
The company that supplies the pellet gun, Cobra Airguns, advertises the weapon on its website as "authentic in all respects right down to the last detail."
Police declined yesterday to release a timeline or say when Barker was shot because the shooting remains under investigation by the Suffolk district attorney's office.
But according to the report obtained by the Globe, a ballistics expert was called to the scene at 6:25 p.m. - something police normally do immediately after a shooting.
Police also released a transcript of a brief conversation in which a dispatcher tells an officer just before the shooting that Barker's wife is not sure whether her husband is holding a pellet gun.
Superintendent Daniel Linskey said that police are trained to use lethal force when confronting a suspect wielding what they believe is a firearm.
"If someone has a weapon, [officers] are trained to ensure their safety and the safety of the public until that weapon can no longer be utilized against them," he said. "We can't determine what kind of weapon someone has until we have a trained ballistician there to tell us what we have."
Ron Taylor, Barker's older brother, yesterday acknowledged that police were in a difficult situation.
"My brother came out brandishing a gun and put his life in jeopardy," Taylor said. "He has some responsibility for his actions." But he added: "If they had information it was a pellet gun, then it was a wrongful shooting. The shooting was unjustified."
According to the transcripts police released, Kim Barker immediately tells 911 operators her husband works at the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department.
"He has a pellet gun, I think, in his hand," she tells the operator, saying that her husband had come from work, behaving "out of control," throwing furniture and kicking her.
"He's losing it," she says. "This is not him."
She begs police to help him. "I just don't want them to shoot him because he has . . ."
And then she breaks off.
"I'll let them know he's not mentally right now," the operator responds. "He's having a breakdown, so they'll proceed cautiously."
Operators then receive a series of calls from neighbors. One says Barker has pointed the gun at her son. Another calls to say he has just pointed a gun at her and forced her from her Subaru.
"He pulled me out of my car and my purse and my everything is out there still," she says.
Shortly after that, police said, Barker jumped into a police cruiser and raced down Fuller Street to Morton and Norfolk streets.
An officer heading to the scene then contacted a dispatcher at headquarters, according to a police transcript.
"Are we sure it's a pellet gun, sir?" the officer asks.
"We're not positive it is," the dispatcher responds.
Then, a woman calls 911 to say she had heard eight to 10 shots near Morton Street, then sirens.
"We've got lots of craziness going on out there," the operator responds. "Well, the police are in the area and they're looking at it and I thank you for making the call."
David Abel of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.
