911 call reveals moments before Zulu ‘prince’ shot dead by Hawaii police
Former rugby player and ‘South African Idol’ contestant had just moved to Honolulu with his American wife and two children
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Your support makes all the difference.Police released the 10-minute 911 call of a "terrified" woman pleading for help moments before the fatal shooting of Zulu "prince" Lindani Myeni in Hawaii.
The 29-year-old former rugby player and “South African Idol” constant was killed on 14 April, and the 911 audio reveals new details of the moments leading up to the shooting seen in previously-released body camera footage.
The female, calling from a vacation rental home in the Honolulu neighbourhood of Nuuanu, can be heard saying with a thick accent “please leave” before telling the dispatcher “someone entered my house … I don’t know this man … he’s in the house”.
The woman is upset and crying throughout the call, telling the dispatcher, “He said Lindan from South Africa”, before later saying she was “terrified”.
Mr Myeni was a married father of two who lived nearby with his American wife, who told Hawaii News Now that he held the rank of prince in the Zulu Kingdom, a nation in South Africa.
She told the outlet they had moved from South Africa to Hawaii in January, and while she didn’t know why he had approached the woman, in Zulu culture they can knock on any neighbour’s door at any time.
“He wanted to talk to them for some reason. It says he took off his shoes. I’m sure he did that as a sign of respect,” she told the outlet.
Police said Mr Myeni had followed the woman to her house, took off his shoes, and exhibited “odd” behaviour.
During the 911 call, the interaction between police and Mr Meyani can be heard as the caller narrated the shooting to the dispatcher.
“That’s him!”, she says as the officer can be heard yelling in the background, “Get on the ground”.
“The officer shot him. He’s attacking the cop,” the woman says.
The dispatcher says, “Oh my God. I just heard shots fired”, before telling the woman to hide in the bathroom and that more officers were on the way.
Attorneys representing Mr Myeni’s family told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser they’re trying to depose the 911 caller, identified as Shiying “Sabine” Wang, in a wrongful death suit against the police.
In a court filing reported by the Star-Advertiser, lawyers argue that after Mr Myeni became aware he was unwelcome he left the house peacefully.
“Plaintiff alleges that the response by the occupants of the Property was motivated by Mr Myeni’s race and constituted racial discrimination in public accommodation,” the lawsuit alleges.
“As Mr Myeni stood still, unarmed, on the side of the driveway just a few feet off the street, one of the Officers, while hysterical screams of ‘that’s him’ emanated from a person standing in the doorway of the house on the Property, suddenly shone the flashlight directly in Mr Myeni’s eyes and held a pistol in the flashlight beam pointed at Mr Myeni."