Forensic Transmissions Episode 32: Michael Dunn Police Interview
Around 7:30 p.m. on Nov 23 2012, Michael Dunn, 47, and his girlfriend Rhonda Rauer, stopped a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, on their way back from Dunn’s son’s wedding. They had left early (they had left their new puppy in a crate in their hotel room) and stopped to pick up a bottle of wine and a bag of chips. They pulled up next to an SUV containing four teenage boys who were playing rap music at high volume. Dunn asked the boys to turn their music down, and one of them lowered the volume, but than another boy, Jordan Davis, turned it up again to a level which Dunn would later describe in court as “ridiculously loud.” Dunn objected and Jordan Davis cursed at him and, according to Dunn, threatened to kill him.
As Dunn describes in this police interview, Davis opened his car door and pointed what appeared to be a shotgun at him. Dunn, who had a concealed weapons permit, said he feared for his life. He took a handgun out of his glove compartment and started firing at Davis. As the SUV backed up to evade his gunshots, Dunn opened his car door and continued firing at the SUV.
When Rhonda Rauer returned to the car, Dunn put his foot on the gas and sped away. The couple drove back to their hotel, where they walked the dog and ordered pizza. The next morning, Rouer saw a news report about the shooting including the fact that Jordan Davis had died. The couple still did not call the police, but canceled their plans and drove home. In this interview, Dunn claims he called a neighbor who works in law enforcement to arrange to speak to him about the shooting. However, records showed that the neighbor actually called him, and Rouer later testified in court that the shooting was never mentioned during the call. When Dunn arrived home, police were waiting for him, and he was arrested–and eye witness at the garage had made a note of his license place.
Here, Dunn claims that he mentioned to Rouer several times that he men had a shotgun, but in court, Rouer testified that Dunn never mentioned a shotgun either that night or the next day. No weapons were found in the SUV. After an initial mistrial, Dunn was found guilty of first degree murder on October 1, 2014, and sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 90 years.