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Police tapes released in Ogden shooting

Posted at 12:59 AM, Jan 31, 2012
and last updated 2012-02-01 19:56:35-05

The officer yelled into his radio, alerting emergency dispatchers to the shootout happening at a small red brick home on Jackson Ave.

"We've got shots fired! We've got officers hit! We need medical!" he yelled. "We need additional units!"

As officers arrived, they were warned that shots were still being fired.

"All units responding, take cover!" an officer yelled into his radio. An emegency dispatcher repeated the request as more and more officers were dispatched to the scene.

The Weber County Attorney's Office on Tuesday released the emergency tapes to FOX 13 under a public records request. In all, more than an hour's worth of emergency dispatch traffic was made public, detailing the police response to the shooting that killed Ogden police officer Jared Francom and wounded five others as they attempted to serve a drug-related search warrant.

"I've got an officer that's been shot in the face!" Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force Sgt. Steve Zaccardi told an emergency dispatcher.

He told the dispatcher he was taking his wounded officer to McKay-Dee Hospital, refusing to wait for an ambulance on scene.

On the emergency dispatch tapes, the sound of alarm is evident in the responding officers' voices. Emergency dispatchers remain calm as they repeat commands and dispatch more units.

"We have several officers down! Get units up here now! We need medical up here right now!" another officer screamed into the radio.

In court documents, prosecutors have said the officers were surprised by Matthew David Stewart, 37, whom they allege was hiding when he opened fire on the agents from the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force. Police ultimately arrested him in a shed in his backyard.

"We've got movement in the shed!" an officer said on one of the recordings.

"It sounds like he's racking a gun up in there," another officer said as SWAT was being dispatched. "We can hear him talking!"

Stewart is charged with aggravated murder, a capitol offense; seven counts of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; and a second-degree felony drug charge. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in Ogden's 2nd District Court on Wednesday.

Weber County prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty against Stewart, if he is convicted.