Terrified and screaming, Katherine Maffei begged a 911 dispatcher for help. She just had been shot inside her Coral Springs home.
“I’m dying,” the 40-year-old mother said, breathing heavily.
Police say Maffei’s estranged husband shot her and her father Friday night inside her home at Barrington Club in the 10500 block of West Sample Road. Also inside the home during the attack was the couple’s 4-year-old son, but the boy was unhurt.
A recording of the sometimes anxious 11 minutes between Katherine Maffei and the dispatcher was released Wednesday, revealing details to the events that led to the shootings of Maffei and her 67-year-old father, Robert Ranta.
Also released were 911 calls from neighbors who reported gunshots and screaming in the area.
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After the double shooting, police arrested Maffei’s husband -- Thomas Scott Maffei, 45, of Parkland -- on two counts of first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed burglary, false imprisonment and child abuse.
Katherine and her father were taken to Broward Health North, where they were listed in serious condition. Wednesday, they remained in stable condition, according to Coral Springs police Sgt. Brad McKeone.
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Katherine began her 911 call Friday night by telling the dispatcher that her estranged husband had showed up at her home. She said that the man was trying to get into something, but she didn't finish saying in the phone call whether it was her home that he was trying to get into.
As the dispatcher asked for her address, Katherine started to scream. The dispatcher kept asking for details, but all she heard on the other end were screams for several minutes.
Katherine's husband, carrying a handgun, was pushing against her front door to try to force it open, police said. Katherine and her father pushed against the door to try and stop the intruder from entering, police said.
Thomas Maffei fired three shots that penetrated the door, striking his wife and her father, police said. With the two wounded, Maffei made it inside the residence and held the family captive, police said.
He walked elsewhere in the home while his wife was in the living room talking to the dispatcher, police said.
“Ma’am, I’m trying to send the police to you,” the dispatcher said. “I need your address.”
Moments later, the dispatcher asked: “Katherine, what’s wrong? What did he do? I’m trying to help you. You need to tell me what he did.”
Katherine replied, but it was inaudible.
“He shot you? Ma’am, did you just say that he shot you?”
“Yes!”
“Listen, I have everybody in the city coming to help you right now. You need to tell me what happened if you can.”
Katherine told the dispatcher she thought she was dying. She walked outside her home and collapsed, police said. Still, she kept talking to the dispatcher.
“I’m outside. I need help,” Katherine told the dispatcher. “I need help, please.”
Ranta took the boy outside the home and fell to the ground next to his daughter, police said. Katherine, her father and her son soon after were pulled to safety by police, as officers arrested her husband, police said.
Man Shot His Father-In-Law, Estranged Wife in Coral Springs: Cops
