FBI: George Zimmerman Tried to Buy More Guns After Trayvon Shooting
Update (12:50 p.m. EDT): The entire batch of new evidence is available on Scribd now, Weiner points out via Twitter. So is a recording of the police and fire radio traffic from the night of the shooting, via the Orlando Sentinel.
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Original: George Zimmerman was easygoing with police when they arrived at the scene of Trayvon Martin's shooting, but according to new evidence from the FBI, he was afraid for his life in the weeks after the shooting became national news and even tried to buy more guns. The new batch of evidence, which special prosecutor Angela Corey released Thursday, includes findings from the FBI's investigation into whether Zimmerman violated 17-year-old Martin's civil rights. The FBI interviewed gun shop owners, according to The Orlando Sentinel's Jeff Weiner, and Daralene Jones, of WFTV. One shop owner told the FBI Zimmerman had called and said "his life was in danger and he needs more guns." So far, though, it's unclear whether he actually bought them.
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The evidence also includes an email exchange between Zimmerman and Sanford police chief Bill Lee, in which Zimmerman "praises the officer he had been working with," Weiner tweeted. The Sentinel's coverage notes that Tim Smith, the first officer on the scene of the shooting, told FBI investigators he found Zimmerman with his back wet and covered in grass stains, bleeding from his nose. That suggests Martin was on top during their fight -- a key piece of evidence in Zimmerman's self-defense claim. Smith quoted Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for help but no one would help me."
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But the new evidence also includes an interview with Trayvon Martin's cousin, who was with him the day he died, and who said it was Martin, not Zimmerman, crying for help. Per the Sentinel: "One of Corey's investigators asked the cousin to identify a voice crying for help in the background of a 911 call. It was "without a doubt 'on a stack of Bibles' " Trayvon's, the cousin said, according to documents."
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The best sources to keep up on the new developments as reporters sift through the evidence will be the Orlando Sentinel's @OSTrayvonMartin Twitter feed, the as well as those of Jeff Weiner, and Daralene Jones. We'll keep you posted here, too, as information comes out.
