Salem today released a timeline and audio from Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt’s call to Salem dispatchers on Memorial Day about one of his deputies who authorites say had threatened to shoot and kill his ex-wife who lived in Salem.

To catch up on the latest reporting on the case, see this story in today’s Roanoke Times along with this breaking news update.

You can hear the audio that Salem has released here. Salem spokesman Mike Stevens advises: “A three second portion of the file at the time when Sheriff Hunt is giving his phone number to the dispatcher has been “beeped” out, to keep that cell number out of public circulation.”

Here’s the timeline from Salem police:

The Salem Police Department received a call in its 911 center at 11:18 a.m. on Monday, May 30. The caller identified himself as Sheriff Hunt of Franklin County and asked, “If there was a shift supervisor handy, or if one could call him.”
The Salem supervisor was out on a call at the time, so the 911 dispatcher took down the message and Sheriff Hunt’s phone number. There was no indication given to the 911 dispatcher that this call was in reference to an emergency, or that there was a sense of urgency to have the call returned immediately.
When the Salem supervisor cleared his patrol call at 11:30 a.m., he was given the message by Salem dispatch and he returned the sheriff’s call at 11:31 a.m. At that time, the patrol sergeant spoke to Sheriff Hunt for about two minutes. The supervisor in Salem then took appropriate action and notified his fellow officers who were on duty about the information he had just received. Here is the timeline of the phone conversations between Sheriff Hunt and Salem.
11:18 a.m. Franklin Co. Sheriff Ewell Hunt makes a call to Salem 911 Dispatch
11:31 a.m. A Salem Patrol Sgt. returns Hunt’s call and the two speak for about 2 minutes
11:39 a.m. The Salem Patrol Sgt. calls Hunt back for additional information
11:45 a.m. Hunt calls the Salem Patrol Sgt. back to relay more information
Shortly after these calls, the Salem 911 center received information from the Roanoke City Police Department about a shooting that had just occurred on Orange Avenue in Roanoke.

The original call to the Salem Police Department by Sheriff Hunt at 11:18 a.m. came into the 911 center on a non-emergency line and was recorded.
The conversations between the Salem supervisor and Sheriff Hunt were conducted on a City of Salem Police Department cell phone, and such calls are not recorded. These conversations have been reduced to writing and they have been given to the Roanoke City Police Department, which is handling the on-going investigation.