Family of Dillon Taylor says 911 caller was intoxicated, prejudiced and lied to police

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The family of Dillon Taylor say that when the 20-year-old was shot and killed by Salt Lake City Police, officers were responding to what sounds like an intoxicated 911 caller.

The woman who called police on Taylor could not tell if he was black, white, Latino... only that he "looked suspicious" and she was sure that he was armed. Police took this obviously unreliable and confused caller very seriously when they confronted Taylor who had not broken any law whatsoever.

"They are obviously looking for trouble just the way they look," the caller can be heard on the 911 call saying.

"We're almost at 21st South," she continues as police head to the scene of the non-crime. "The guy in the red hat has a gun. The guy flashed his gun, the kid flashed a gun as he was walking by. They are looking for trouble that's all I see."

Listen to the report from local Fox 13 and hear the call for yourself...

Gina Thayne, Dillon's aunt, reacted to the 911 caller, telling local Fox 13 that "I can't believe this is what took Dillon's life, this call. I wondered if she was intoxicated because it sounded like her voice was altered but the more I hear maybe she had a disability."

"I don't want to say people shouldn't call when they see something suspicious, but be sure of what you are talking about, this took a kid's life, it took somebody we loved," Thayne continued.

Thayne also noted that when dispatch questioned, "What race was he, was he Hispanic, white, black?"

The caller answered, "um black, no Mexican, right."

"First she said he was black and then she said no he's Mexican almost like maybe a little prejudice maybe, I don't know," Thayne noted.

When dispatch asked, "are you or anyone else in immediate danger?" the caller responded: "No, not at all. I just thought I ought to report this, they look suspicious."

But in spite of this, officers opened fire on Dillan when he didn't respond to them quickly enough due to having earbud headphones in his ears.

The officer who shot and killed Taylor was ruled to have "acted appropriately."

Just as in the case of John Crawford in Beavercreek, Ohio the 911 caller making false claims, coupled with police overreaction are at the heart of Dillan Taylor's death.