911 call reveals frantic call for help after Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez shot himself
MIAMI – Audio of the 911 call made the night that Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez shot himself in the head along the side of the road has been released.
The call to the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue was obtained by CBS News Miami’s partner The Miami Herald. The recording does not identify the speakers.
The conversation appears to take place through a speaker system in the SUV, according to The Miami Herald.
During the call a woman, believed to be Ramirez’s wife, Jody, is heard saying that at one point he ran into traffic as was resisting her efforts to treat his wound on the side of the road. She frantically asks for help.
Operator: “I need you to pick up the phone ma’am.”
Woman: “I don’t have the phone it’s on the car, I don’t know where his phone is.”
Operator: “I need you to talk to me so I can help him. Where is he now?”
Woman: “He’s in the grass on the side of the road.”
Operator: “Is he awake?”
Woman: “Yes. Please help me, somebody please help.”
Operator: “We already have help dispatched. I need you to listen to me so we can help him. Where is the gun?”
Woman: “It’s here in the car, it’s on the console.”
Operator: “I need you to get a clean dry cloth or a towel or a t-shirt or something so we can put on the wound and try and control the bleeding.”
Woman: “He’s not letting me.”
Multiple sections of the call were redacted before release, leaving long beeps between the conversation, leaving an incomplete picture of what happened that night.
The shooting took place July 23rd as the director and his wife were headed back to Miami on I-75 after a prior heated argument at a Tampa hotel.
Ramirez and his wife were in Tampa for the summer meeting of Florida’s Sheriff Association, which began on Sunday at the JW Marriot Hotel. The couple left the welcome reception for the conference at around 6:30 p.m. and went outside the hotel where an argument allegedly ensued.
According to the law enforcement source, a passerby claimed to have seen Ramirez threatening to kill himself.
The police were called and the couple was asked to leave the hotel. Ramirez was in his car with his wife when he pulled over by the side of the road along Interstate 75 and shot himself, according to two law enforcement sources.
The 911 call appears to have happened shortly after the shooting. He was somehow able to walk around because the woman on the phone is scared when she saw Ramirez walking into traffic.
Ramirez remains at a Tampa hospital recovering from his injuries.
The director announced two months ago that he would run for sheriff next year as a Democrat.
He was named police director in 2020 under former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava elevated Ramirez two years later so he could oversee the police department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue as interim chief of public safety. He was later given the position permanently.
