The transcript of the 911 call which led to the sniper-shooting of 20-year-old Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg has been released to the public. The call reveals what was going on from the viewpoint of Tekle’s neighbor, Arabella Yarabrough and also offers some insight to why she counter-protested the demonstration led by Tekle’s supporters.
According to the 911 call transcript, Yarbrough began the call alerting the operator someone shot through her apartment and that there was a bullet hole through her door. She said she got grazed but confirmed she wasn’t bleeding. She also noted her two children were inside the house.
“I don’t know if I should shoot back. I have a license to carry,” she told the operator. In response, they told her to keep the gun away and that an officer was on the way. “I know that guy does not like me. For some odd reason he’s been stalking me and I think (inaudible) a stalker cause he’s the only one who could do that,” she continued.
The sight of protestors marching outside the apartment building where the shooting occurred stirred emotions of anger for Yarbrough as she clashed with them in the street.
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Arabella Yarbrough has said she was cooking food for her children on July 13 when Tekle Sundberg fired bullets into their home, nearly hitting them. Police responded and helped Yarbrough escape when, according to police, Sundberg also fired at officers. That led to a six-hour standoff outside the building that lasted until MPD snipers killed the 20-year-old early the next morning.
“That man [Tekle Sundberg] was armed. George Floyd was not armed. Breonna Taylor was not armed. Amir Locke he was armed and he had his own guns, but they came into his home while he’s licensed to carry and killed him. He did not... fire. This man intentionally tried to kill us,” Yarbrough said Saturday.
Both Yarbrough and Sundberg’s family say things could have ended differently if he was able to get the mental health support he needed. His parents, Cindy and Mark Sundberg adopted Tekle from Ethiopia when he was just four years old.
Yarbrough told KARE 11 she thought about calling the police on Tekle earlier due to the stalking she said she experienced. However, she said she didn’t want to put an innocent Black man’s life at risk. In a video posted to Twitter, she accuses Tekle’s family of not coming to visit or check on him given his mental state and urged the demonstrators to go home and “grieve in silence.”
“This is not a George Floyd situation. My kids have to deal with this and probably have a mental illness now because they almost lost their life. I don’t have a place to call home. I can’t sleep at night,” she said to the demonstrators swelling with tears.
Sundberg’s father, Mark, said Yarbrough went through a traumatic event and he’s sorry the incident happened.
“It is two different incidences. ... What we’re here for is when Tekle was shot by the Minneapolis police and died.I hope that we can support her. It’s obvious she is in great pain. She had the courage to come down here and speak her mind, and she has every right to do that,” he said to KARE 11.