Denver woman fatally shot after 13 minutes on 911 call

DENVER, April 16 (UPI) -- Kristine Kirk spent the last thirteen minutes of her life terrified and frantically telling a 911 dispatcher that her husband was hallucinating, that he “was talking about the end of the world,” that her three small children were scared, that there was a gun in the house and “he wanted her to shoot him.”

In the end, he shot her.

Kristine can be heard screaming when she realizes her husband has removed the gun from the safe, telling the emergency dispatcher that he has the gun in his hands.

And then a shot rings out, ending Kristine’s life and her desperate 13-minute call for help.

Richard Kirk shot his wife in the head, he told police after being arrested according to the probable cause statement.

The call was dispatched at 9:32 p.m., and Richard Kirk, 47, was taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder at 9:55 p.m. Kristine Kirk was pronounced dead at the scene of a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

Kirk admitted to killing his wife on the way to the station.

Police are investigating whether the time it took to respond to the 911 call was reasonable.

"Any time a person dies while communicating with Denver's emergency services, we examine the circumstances to ensure that the incident was handled properly and we look for areas to improve upon," the department said in a news release.

According to the Denver Post, the Denver auditor's office launched a study this year to examine police response times. Auditors examined multiple factors that may be the cause of the increase in response times, said spokesman Denis Berckefeldt.

The audit is expected to be finalized in June.

[NBC] [Denver Post]