911 Audio Details Ellenboro Response

Newly released 911 audio from a Dec. 27 incident in Ellenboro shows the caller did not initially report shots fired at her home, a key detail that helps explain why the call was first classified as a disturbance rather than an active shooting.

The audio was released to WCAB News this week after a public records request to the Rutherford County legal department. The caller’s voice is digitally altered in the recording, a step county officials say is standard to protect privacy when emergency communications are released.

The caller, later identified as Brandi Hutchins, requested law enforcement assistance at her home on Alamo Street, telling the dispatcher she had “somebody at my house that won’t leave” and asking for an officer to respond.

In the opening moments of the call, Hutchins did not report gunfire. Several minutes into the conversation, after discussing whether there was legal paperwork barring the man from being around her children, Hutchins stated that a vehicle had been shot. This reporter heard several gunshots in the background during a review of the 911 call.

“He just shot his car,” Hutchins said, later clarifying, “Not my car, my friend’s car.”

When asked by the dispatcher, Hutchins confirmed the vehicle was shot with a gun. She also told dispatch the suspect had already left the scene, that the immediate threat was over, and that she planned to pursue charges and a restraining order through a magistrate.

The transcript WCAB News generated from the call does not show Hutchins reporting during the initial call that shots had entered her home, or that gunfire struck the residence itself. That detail later became central to the case. 

In subsequent social media posts, Hutchins described a more serious incident, alleging the suspect arrived armed, fired multiple shots, and endangered six children inside the home. Those allegations prompted further investigation by the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies initially treated the call as a misdemeanor-level disturbance based on the information provided during the 911 call and early patrol response. The case escalated the following day after investigators discovered evidence that a bullet had entered the occupied mobile home — a finding that elevated the incident to a felony under North Carolina law.

Stephen Thomas Ford, 25, was arrested Dec. 28 and charged with felony shooting into an occupied dwelling, along with multiple misdemeanor offenses, including assault on a female, communicating threats, domestic criminal trespass, and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. No injuries were reported.

Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg has said deputies relied on the facts available at the time of the call and that a full internal review of the response, including dispatch handling and body camera footage, is ongoing. 

The newly released 911 audio provides additional context to a case that sparked public scrutiny, highlighting how dispatch decisions are shaped by the information communicated during the earliest moments of an emergency call.

Ford is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. He is out on bond and has a hearing scheduled for January 14, according to NC Judicial Branch eCourts records.