OMAR THORNTON SHOT & KILLED 8 PEOPLE IN CONNECTICUT BEFORE HE KILLED HIMSELF HE CALLED 911 & TOLD THEM WHY HE DID IT!

Connecticut mass murderer Omar Thornton paused after gunning down eight people to make an extraordinary 911 call - saying he wished he had killed more.

In remarkably calm tones, just before committing suicide, Thornton explained he shed so much blood because "this is a racist place."

"You probably want to know the reason why I shot this place up," Thornton said.

"They treat me bad over here, and they treat all the other black employees bad over here too. So I just took it into my own hands and I handled the problem," he said.

"I wish I coulda got more of the people."

With local 911 lines overwhelmed, State Police Trooper William Taylor fielded the four-minute call Thornton made from a warehouse that was littered with eight corpses, two bleeding men and dozens of cowering co-workers.

The killer sounded composed and matter-of-fact, yet Taylor, perhaps at something of a loss, kept telling him to relax.

"You don't need to calm me down, I'm already calmed down," Thornton replied. "I'm not gonna kill nobody else. I just want to tell my story so that you can play it back.

"You're gonna play something on the news. You know I'm gonna be popular."

The trooper tried several times to get Thornton to say where in the building he was.

"I'm not gonna tell you that. Where they find me, that's when everything will be over," Thornton said.

"You're gonna make the troopers and the people come in and catch you? You're not gonna surrender yourself?" Taylor asked, cajoling the killer.

Then Thornton, who had just shot 10 men, most of them in the head, actually seemed to get playful.

"Well, I guess, uh, I guess, maybe I will surrender," he said.

Then, as if to make clear he was kidding, he added, "Nah. They'll come and get me."

There was a little more conversation before Thornton cut it short.

"I have to take care of business," he said. "Tell my people that I love them, and I gotta go now."

There was a noise on the phone, and he was gone.

Police said they later found his body with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Thornton also placed a 10-minute call to his mother. It was not clear if that was before or after his chat with 911.

His girlfriend, Kristi Hannah, who said he often complained of being called a "n-----" and seeing racist scrawls on the bathroom walls directed at him, said the 911 call confirmed what she suspected about his motive.

"There is only so much one man could take," she said.

"They pushed and they pushed and they pushed and he finally just snapped. That's what you hear in his 911 call. He couldn't take it anymore."

Earlier in the day, company owners said Thornton was fired for selling stolen beer and they forcefully rejected accusations of workplace racism.

"I can state to you unequivocally that no such claim has ever been brought to this company," said president Ross Hollander.

Thornton "was embraced as a member of our team," he said.

The Teamsters union also denied they knew of any racial harassment of Thornton, who was one of only four black workers among the company's 69 dockworkers and drivers.


Full transcript of Omar Thornton's 911 call:

Dispatcher: State Police.

Thornton: Yeah, this 911?

Dispatcher: Yeah, can I help you?

Thornton: This is Omar Thornton, the, uh, the shooter over in Manchester.

Dispatcher: Yes, where are you, sir?

Thornton: I'm in the building. Uh, you probably want to know the reason why I shot this place up. This place here is a racist place.

Dispatcher: Yup, I understand that

Thornton: They treat me bad over here, and they treat all the other black employees bad over here too, so I just take it into my own hands and I handled the problem — I wish I coulda got more of the people.

Dispatcher: Yeah. Are you armed, sir? Do you have a weapon with you?

Thornton: Oh yeah, I'm armed.

Dispatcher: How many guns do you have with you?

Thornton: I got one now, there's uh, there's another in the factory there.

Dispatcher: Yup. OK, sir.

Thornton: I'm not gonna kill nobody else, though.

Dispatcher: Yeah, we're gonna have to have you surrender yourself somehow here, not make the situation any worse, you know what I mean?

Thornton: These cops are gonna kill me.

Dispatcher: No they're not. We're just gonna have to get you to relax

Thornton: I'm relaxed, just calm down.

Dispatcher: … just have you, you know, turn yourself over.

Thornton: We're just talking, you're gonna play something on the news, you know I'm gonna be popular, right [inaudible] the right thing. SWAT team just rolled by in army gear. You don't know where I'm at, but, I don't know, maybe you can trace it from this phone call. But, yeah, these people here are crazy, they treat me bad from the start here, racist company. They treat me bad, I'm the only black driver they got here. They treat me bad over here, they treat me bad all the time.

Dispatcher: This is a horrible situation, I understand that…

Thornton: You don't need to calm me down, I'm already calmed down. I'm not gonna kill nobody else — I just want to tell my story so that you can play it back.

Dispatcher: You're gonna help me get you out of the building, OK?

Thornton: All right, I'm a, I get — don't worry about that, I got that taken care of, I don't need anybody to talk me into getting me out. …

Dispatcher: Where in the building are you, Omar?

Thornton: I'm not gonna tell you that. Where they find me, that's when everything will be over.

Dispatcher: Yeah, just, you know, where are you located, are you up in the offices?

Thornton: When they find me, everything be all right. Manchester itself is a racist place.

Dispatcher: Yeah, now, um, what time did you get there today?

Thornton: Um, It was about 7 o'clock

Dispatcher: Yeah. This morning?

Thornton: Yeah, about 7 a.m., yeah, they told me to come early today.

Dispatcher: What type of weapon do you have?

Thornton: I got a Ruger SR9, 15 shot.

Dispatcher: A Ruger? SR 9?

Thornton: Automatic, yeah

Dispatcher: Is it a rifle?

Thornton: No, no, it's a pistol. I like pistols too, they are my favorites.

Dispatcher: Now, uh, you're gonna make the troopers and the people come in and catch ya? You're not gonna surrender yourself?

Thornton: Well — I guess, I guess uh, maybe I'll surrender … nah. They come and get me, have them come get me.

Dispatcher: Yeah, we wouldn't want to do it like that, Omar. You know, it's already been a bad enough scene here this morning, we want you to relax.

Thornton: I'm relaxed though, I'm done.

Dispatcher: Yeah, we don't want any more you know, people to lose their life, here.

Thornton: I'm not gonna kill nobody else.

Dispatcher: OK.

Thornton: I'm not coming out, I'm not coming out, they gonna have to find me. You gonna send some dogs or whatever, I don't know what you're gonna do. Anyway.

Dispatcher: How much ammunition you have with you?

Thornton: I got uh, I shot, uh oh .

Dispatcher: What was that?

Thornton: It's all right. I guess it's got me … I have to take care of business. Tell my people I love them, and I gotta go now.

Dispatcher: Omar. I really want you to help me stop this situation. Ok?

Thornton: OK.

Dispatcher: If you work with me we'll get this to stop, OK?

(noise)

Dispatcher: Omar? Omar? Omar? OK …