911 Caller Said He Was 'Raisin' Hell' Before Brick Shooting

A 911 caller told a dispatcher he was “raisin’ hell” at a Brick Township home before a 21-year-old man was shot by police and killed in August, according to reports.

Julian Hoffman was killed in the shooting on Cherrywood Circle on Aug. 23. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office has said police responded to the home after receiving a 911 call from a male who said he was going to create a disturbance and hung up.

The incident remains under investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

On the recordings, a copy of which were obtained by the Patch Wednesday afternoon, a young man’s voice can be heard telling the dispatcher from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office to send someone to the house because of a disturbance.

The recording begins with the sound of a disconnected phone call -- which the dispatcher later tells Brick Township police was an abandonded call. The dispatcher calls the number back:

• Young man: “Hello.”
• Dispatcher: “Hi this is the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, we received ...
• Young man: “Hi can you come to 47 Cherrywood Circle.”
• Dispatcher: “OK what’s going there.”
• Young man: “It’s, uh, a disturbance.”
• Dispatcher: “OK, uh, male female?”
• Young man: “It’s, uh, I dunno. It’s just a (profanity) disturbance.”
• Dispatcher: “OK between who.”
• Young man: “It’s (profanity) me. I’m raisin hell. (Profanity) this.”
• Dispatcher: “OK, what’s your name?”
• Young man: “OK bye.”

From there, the dispatcher calls Brick Township police:

• Brick: “Brick Police (officer gives his number)”
• County: “Hey, It’s county.”
• Brick: “Yeah.”
• County: “I got a disturbance for you.”
• Brick: “OK.”
• County: ”4-7 Cherrywood Circle. It originated as an abandoned call. Called it back, kid said he was causing a disturbance in the residence. Told me to send everyone there and then hung up. I wasn’t able to confirm his name or number.”
• Brick: “What’s the phone number?”
• County dispatcher gives the number.
• Brick: “And he was saying what was going on?”
• County: “He said he was creating disturbance in the residence and to send a cop there.”
• Brick: “All right, we’ll get somebody over there.”
• County: “Alrighty, thank you.”

The phone number relayed by the county dispatcher belonged to Julian Hoffman, according to records available online.

Two additional calls, from neighbors on Cherrywood Circle reporting hearing gunshots, came in during the incident. In both instances the county dispatcher can be heard relaying the callers to Brick police, where the dispatcher tells the residents they are aware and are on the scene and tells the residents to stay in their homes.

The abandoned call was received at 10:49 p.m. and the recording concludes with the two neighbors’ calls, ending at 11: 08 p.m., according to the 911 report details included with the recording.

The prosecutor’s office has said that Hoffman had what appeared to be a black semi-automatic hand gun when he approached the responding Brick Township police officers, and that he was shot several times when he did not obey the officers’ order to drop the weapon.

The officers -- Patrolmen Jay Nye, 31, and Ryan Osborn, 25 -- have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the prosecutor’s office investigation, Brick Township Police Chief Nils R. Bergquist has said.

Hoffman’s father, Derek, has said a witness told him Julian Hoffman had his hands up when police shot him, and claims that surveillance video from the Hoffmans’ home confirms that information.

Derek Hoffman was not home at the time of the shooting, he has said.

According to the reports, the family has not yet been able to get a copy of that video from the security company.