Crime & Safety

Audio: Terrified Parents of Ali Syed Call 9-1-1 After Shotgun Blast

Police release the taped phone call and the photo of Courtney Aoki, 20, Syed's alleged first victim.

ABOVE, hear the 9-1-1 recording of Ali Syed's parents reporting gunfire in their house.

"Somebody's shot... I heard a gunshot," his mother tells an emergency dispatcher.

"I think they got into a fight or something, and we heard a gunshot," his father says. "My son is younger, he sometimes has friends over, I don't know all the details at this point."

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"We were asleep, we heard something, it sounded like a gunshot," the father said. "It came down, I don't know, I didn't want to get involved right now I'm just saying—."

When the dispatcher asks him to go into Syed's room, the father refuses.

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Police say Syed, 20, a part-time Saddleback College student living in his parents' Ladera Ranch home, used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill three people and then himself Tuesday.

Authorities say Syed shot 20-year-old Courtney Aoki of Buena Park multiple times, killing her inside his Ladera Ranch home early Tuesday morning.

In 2010, at age 18, Aoki participated in a summer acting program put on by the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Police released a photo of Jeremy Lewis, 27, a construction worker Syed shot and killed near the Micro Center at Edinger Avenue in Santa Ana.

Law enforcement spent three hours Wednesday in autopsy. Toxicology tests will not be available for another six to eight weeks, Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Video Game-Playing Loner

A former student of Junipero Serra continuation school in San Juan Capistrano, the 20-year-old Syed was unemployed and took one class at Saddleback College on computer maintenance, Amormino said.

He lived in the first floor of his parents' Ladera Ranch home. They lived on the third floor, Amormino said.

Syed's extensive free time was spent alone in his room playing video games, Amormino said. He did not know how many hours a day Syed spent playing these game, and would not say what games Syed played.

The shotgun used in the spree was legally purchased by Syed’s father about a year ago, Amormino said.

No illegal drugs were found in Syed’s room, Amormino said.

Deputies have yet to confirm Syed’s relationship to Aoki. Aoki’s occupation was not confirmed by police Wednesday.

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