Newnan native Qualin Campbell was shot to death Friday in Colorado Springs, and lawyers for his family say police didn’t respond to a 911 call that he was being held hostage for more than an hour — until after he was dead.
Campbell, 31, was on his job as a mobile printer-equipment repairman when a man described as a transient got into his car, according to attorney Harry Daniels.
“He was actually in his company car when he was shot and killed,” Daniels said.
Campbell managed to text his wife Tali’Ja “911. Send Please!” and even sent his location and a picture of the man holding him hostage. She called police but got no response, Daniels said.
“We do know that he was alive at the time that she called,” he said.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Colorado Springs police did reach the location “to investigate a shooting,” according to the department’s online police blotter.
“Upon arrival, they located two deceased, adult males. The Colorado Springs Police Department Homicide Unit continued the investigation. Currently, there are no threats to the community,” it says.
Daniels said officers finally responded to a separate shots-fired call at the same spot from which Campbell sent his original message, less than a mile south of city police headquarters on the same street.
They found him dead, having bled out from a shot to the abdomen, according to Daniels. Neither he nor the other decedent were identified in the brief police blotter announcement.
The announcement also does not say whether the other person was Campbell’s captor and shooter.
An attached “note to media” says any updates will come from the department’s public affairs section “when available.” Colorado Springs police did not respond to questions from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Qualin and Tali’Ja Campbell met while attending the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, and moved to Colorado in July, Daniels said. Her family lives there and Qualin Campbell soon found a job to support his wife and two daughters, Daniels said.
Daniels said claims that authorities weren’t notified of the hostage situation until 2 p.m. are untrue. He said call logs show Tali’Ja Campbell was on the phone with 911 operators for nine minutes, long before police responded to a shots-fired call.
Daniels said he’s “very interested” in talking to police about the hour-long discrepancy.
“We have not had any detailed response at this time from them,” he said.
An autopsy has been performed on Campbell but its results haven’t been released, Daniels said. According to a release from his office, as of Monday neither police nor the El Paso County Coroner’s Office had announced the name of Campbell’s killer or a recording of Tali’Ja Campbell’s 911 call.
Daniels said he expects to hold a press conference Thursday.
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