911 call from Lambert Wilson’s death released

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

Swain County Emergency Management on Jan. 23 released audio from a 911 call that sheds light on the circumstances leading up to the death of beloved community member Lambert Wilson. Wilson died from gunshot wounds Oct. 20 at the El Camino Motel in Cherokee, which he owned.

The four-minute phone call starts 45 seconds after 9:53 p.m., which is a little over two minutes before Wilson’s death certificate states that he sustained gunshot wounds to the neck, arms, chest and abdomen. The contents of the call indicate that his death resulted from an altercation with a motel customer who feared for their life.

“The owner just attacked my [redacted],” the caller says at the beginning of the call with Jackson County Dispatch.

The caller says they are at the El Camino Motel but flounders when asked for the address.

“There’s a 15 on the building but I’m sorry,” the caller says. “We just came to this motel.”

“Let me see if I can find your address,” the dispatcher responds. “Is he hurt?”

The caller doesn’t have a chance to answer, because from there the situation quickly spirals.

“Hey, he’s got a gun,” says the caller. “He is pointing a gun at me right now. He’s come out, he’s an owner and he has got a gun pointed at us.”

At the 40-second mark, the call records four blasts that sound like gunshots. Wilson’s death certificate lists four places on his body that sustained gunshot wounds, though the document says these injuries occurred one-and-a-half minutes after the blasts on the call.

There are several redactions in the imme- diate aftermath of the blasts.

“I’m going to stay on the phone with you,” the dispatcher assures the caller.

“He had a gun pointed at me,” says the caller. “Oh my God.”

The next few minutes are hard to follow. Multiple voices can be heard arguing away from the receiver, but it’s impossible to tell what they are saying. Multiple times, the caller repeats to the dispatcher that the man had a gun and was intending to shoot. The dispatcher stays on the line and tries, to no avail, to get additional information from the distraught caller about where exactly on the motel property this incident unfolded.

“We have Cherokee Police Department on their way,” the dispatcher says. “Where at the motel are you?”

The call ends with a second person picking up the phone.