911 calls before Sonya Massey's shooting include 1 from her mother asking officers not to 'hurt her'

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Two emergency response calls were made from the home of Sonya Massey, the Black woman who was shot in the face by an Illinois sheriff's deputy after she called 911 for help, in the days leading up to her death, according to records released Wednesday.

In a third call, Massey's mother, Donna Massey, reports that her daughter is suffering a “mental breakdown” and tells the dispatcher, “I don't want you guys to hurt her.” She adds that she fears the police and asks that no officer who is “prejudiced" be sent.

In the other calls, a woman calling from Sonya Massey's address, who doesn't identify herself, says people want to hurt her, and a day later, a woman identifying herself as Sonya Massey reports a neighbor had hit her with a brick.

The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department is still trying to determine whether Massey’s history of mental health issues was relayed to deputies responding to the call about a suspected prowler, which ended in her death on July 6.

Former sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson, 30, who is white, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in the shooting death of Massey, 36, in her home. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond.

Also Wednesday, Sheriff Jack Campbell released Grayson's personnel file in response to public-records requests, with records leading up to his May 1, 2023, hire to his dismissal July 17, the day he was indicted. It confirms what was previously known, that Campbell was aware of Grayson's two drunken driving convictions within a year, the first of which led to his premature discharge from the Army.

Campbell said DUIs do not disqualify a candidate and that Grayson's rapid succession of jobs — five in four years before joining the Sangamon department — showed admirable ambition to advance to larger and more structured departments. The sheriff said he knew of no previous discipline problems. References indicating Grayson needed more training are common for young recruits, and Grayson subsequently attended 16 weeks of academy training, Campbell said.

Grayson's March 31, 2023, psychological evaluation found him fit to serve but noted, “He knows he can move too fast at times. He needs to slow down to make good decisions.”

Body camera video shows that after checking yards around the home just before 1 a.m. July 6, Massey greeted the deputies at the front door with, “Don't hurt me,” appeared confused and repeated, “Please, God.” Inside her home, on the southeast side of Springfield, she had trouble finding her ID and asked for her Bible.

Following Grayson's direction to remove a pot of water from the stove, she unexpectedly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." Grayson then pulled his gun and yelled at her to drop the presumably hot water before firing three times, striking her below the left eye.

The personnel file includes the results of the internal investigation that led to Grayson’s dismissal, indicating that he violated rules on use of force and standards of conduct, failed to turn on his body camera or to provide medical aid and insubordination for refusing to answer questions during the investigation’s interview even after a superior ordered him to.

“Grayson immediately escalated to deadly force based on the decedent stating, ‘I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,’” Chief Deputy Anthony Mayfield wrote. “When Deputy Grayson pointed his firearm at the decedent, she was not making any aggressive movements, only talking.”

Grayson's failure to “attempt non-violent strategies and techniques" or to communicate led to Massey's death, Mayfield said.

Family members have said Massey struggled with mental health issues and had undergone treatment. Her son, Malachi Hill Massey, said last week that his mother sent him and his sister to live with their fathers the first week of July because she had checked herself into a 30-day inpatient treatment program, then returned two days later.

Shortly before 9:30 p.m. July 4, a 911 caller from Massey's address said, “Somebody's trying to hurt me.” When the dispatcher asked who, she said, “A lot of them.” Pressed for more information, she said, “Never mind. This must not be the right number,” and disconnected. When called back, she said she no longer needed police. Wilhite said officials do not know if it was Massey who called.

The next morning, just after 9 a.m., Donna Massey called saying her daughter was outside the house and yelling. She said Sonya Massey is not a danger to anyone, but "When she gets upset, she thinks everybody's after her, like paranoid-schizophrenic.”

She told the dispatcher she fears the police and didn't want her daughter to be hurt.

“Please don’t send no combative policemen that are prejudiced,” Donna Massey said.

Springfield police, who took the call, reported that Massey did not want to talk to medical professionals but was checked by emergency medical technicians who “cleared” her.

Sonya Massey called a few hours later to report a neighbor had hit her with a brick. A sheriff's deputy caught up to her at a hospital, where the dispatch record said she went “to seek treatment of her mental state.” She told the officer the neighbor used a brick to break her SUV's window and that she herself broke another “in an attempt to get into the car to get away.”

The deputy noted Massey appeared to be having mental health problems and was seeking treatment for scrapes she sustained reaching through the broken glass. She told the officer she had recently been released from a mental health facility and claimed that earlier that day “she was out with" police “who attempted to run her off the road.”

The officer said Massey also had paperwork from a July 3 interaction with a mental health mobile crisis unit from another Springfield hospital.

Twelve hours later, when Grayson and the second deputy responded to the July 6 call and were searching her yard, body camera video indicates they notice the broken windows on the SUV and ask Massey if it is hers, which she denies.

Associated Press writer Gabe Stern contributed from Needham, Massachusetts.

CORRECTS TO PLEADED NOT GUILTY Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the family of Sonya Massey, stands next to a diagram from the slain woman's autopsy on Friday, June 26, 2024, in Springfield, Ill., and gestures to show the downward angle in which Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson shot Massey in the face early on July 6. Massey had called 911 with suspicions of a prowler near her Springfield home. Grayson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges. (AP Photo/John O'Connor)

James Wilburn, father of Sonya Massey, speaks to reporters in Springfield, Ill. on Monday, July 22, 2024. A former Sangamon County sheriff's deputy has been charged with murder after shooting Massey inside her home while responding to a 911 call on July 6. (AP Photo/John O'Connor)

Donna Massey, center right, wipes tears from her face as she listens to Rev. Al Sharpton, right, speak during a press conference over the shooting death of her daughter Sonya, who was killed by Illinois sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson, at New Mount Pilgrim Church in the Garfield Park neighborhood in Chicago, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Rev. Al Sharpton, left, holds hands and leads Summer Massey, daughter of Sonya Massey, to the podium during a press conference over the shooting death of Sonya, who was killed by Illinois sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson, at New Mount Pilgrim Church in the Garfield Park neighborhood in Chicago, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Donna Massey, Sonya Massey's mother, wipes tears from her face as she listens to attorney Ben Crump speak during a press conference over the shooting death of Sonya, who was killed by Illinois sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson, at New Mount Pilgrim Church in the Garfield Park neighborhood in Chicago, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Malachi Hill Massey, 17, center, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the NAACP headquarters in Springfield, Ill., about his mother, Sonya Massey, who was shot to death by a Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy on July 6 in Springfield after calling 911 for help. On the left is civil right attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Massey family. On the right is Sonya Massey's daughter, Jeanette Summer Massey, 15. (AP Photo/John O'Connor)

In this image taken from body camera video released by Illinois State Police on Monday, July 22, 2024, former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, left, points his gun at Sonya Massey, who called 911 for help, before shooting and killing her inside her home in Springfield, Ill., July 6, 2024. (Illinois State Police via AP)

FILE - Sonya Massey's home, the scene of her fatal shooting, stands Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Springfield, Ill. Prosecutors have charged a sheriff's deputy with Massey's murder. Sean Grayson is accused of shooting the Black woman in the face on July 6, 2024, while responding to her report of an intruder at her home. (AP Photo/John O'Connor, File)

In this image taken from body camera video released by Illinois State Police, Sonya Massey, left, talks with former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson outside her home in Springfield, Ill., July 6, 2024. Footage released Monday, July 22, by a prosecutor reveals a chaotic scene in which Massey, who called 911 for help, is shot in the face in her home by Grayson. (Illinois State Police via AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria in an apparent Israeli operation targeting Hezbollah's communications network but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them.

Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack.

An American official said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the conclusion of the operation, in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly.

The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo.

“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the statement read.

Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding — leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders.

It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers.

The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Hezbollah, which has pointed the blame at Israel, said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel “as in all the past days” as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza.

“This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday that it committed against our people, our families and our fighters in Lebanon,” it said. “This is another reckoning that will come, God willing.”

Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counteroffensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes near-daily, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border.

At hospitals in Beirut on Wednesday, the chaos of the night before had largely subsided, but relatives of the wounded continued to wait.

Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told journalists during a tour on hospitals Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated. Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients.

The health minister said that the wounded had been distributed among all the area hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded and added that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help in treating the patients.

Earlier Wednesday, an Iraqi military plane landed in Beirut carrying medical equipment, airport officials said. Abiad said the plane was carrying 15 tons of medicine and medical equipment.

Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration.

The AR-924 pager, advertised as being “rugged,” contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters.

It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon.

For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to sidestep what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon.

“The phone that we have in our hands — I do not have a phone in my hand — is a listening device,” warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech.

He later added: “I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife’s hands, and in your children’s hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it.”

Associated Press journalists Bassem Mroue and Abby Sewell in Beirut; Zeke Miller in Washington; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.(AP Photo)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bassam Masri)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard at a street that leads to the American University hospital where they bring wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)