Man shot by officer tells 911 operator: 'Bring them on, I'm ready for them'

911 calls released before Harold Kraai shot, killed by officer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office released three 911 calls made the day a 52-year-old man was fatally shot by a police officer, and one of the calls made to dispatch was from the man before he died.

Harold Kraai was shot and killed Saturday by Officer R.W. Futch, a 23-year veteran of JSO, after investigators said Kraai refused multiple orders to put down an 8-inch knife.

Before police arrived, Kraai cold be heard on the phone telling dispatch he'd been in an altercation with family members, and that he wanted to kill himself.

"I just busted my mom’s back windshield out because she won’t feed me. She’s being mean to me. My stepfather tried to jump on me and I want the law out here because I want to kill myself, I don’t want to live no more," Kraai told dispatch.

Kraai then began making threats to harm anyone who came through the front door of a home.

"I'm ready for anyone who walks through this (expletive) door," Kraai told dispatch.

LISTEN: Kraai's call to 911 | Mother calls 911 | Mother calls 911 again

The operator can be heard asking, "What are you going to do if they walk in the door?" Kraai can then be heard responding, "I'm gonna have to kill them."

Kraai also told the operator he was armed.

"I got plenty around here to fire," Kraai said.

Kraai's mother could be heard making a separate call to 911 in fear of her safety.

"I've got a mentally (inaudible) and he just beat the windows out of my car. He's violent and he's trying to attack me," she told dispatch.

Once officers arrived at the residence on Avery Drive, investigators said Kraai held the knife over his head in a threatening manner and told police to kill him as he approached an officer. That's when Futch fired multiple shots, killing Kraai.

JSO Chief of Investigations Chris Butler said Kraai was charging toward the officer, and Futch was "totally lawful in the application of deadly force."

Butler said Futch had never been involved in any other use of deadly force incidents until the shooting Saturday.

Prior to the shooting, police had been called out to the home eight times since January 2016 for domestic violence, auto theft, aggravated battery and more, according to Butler.

Kraai was hospitalized for mental health issues four times since 2009, according to police.

Officers were not wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting and Futch has been placed on administrative duty until after the incident is investigated by the state attorney's office and JSO's Response to Resistance Review Board.


About the Author:

Corley Peel is a Texas native and Texas Tech graduate who covered big stories in Joplin, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Jacksonville, Florida before returning to the Lone Star State. When not reporting, Corley enjoys hot yoga, Tech Football, and finding the best tacos in town.