911 Call Transcript Shows Grattan Complaining Of ‘Microwave’ Attack

By David Reynolds

HARRISONBURG — Five months before Jonathan Peter Grattan II gunned down his neighbors as they drove past his Bridgewater home, he called police and said he was the one under attack.

Transcripts of a 911 call Grattan made on Nov. 24, 2005, show a 22-year-old ranting to emergency operators that he’d been shot with "gamma rays," and was dying.

The 39-page transcript shows Grattan talking about death, police officers, melting telephones, guns, radiation poisoning, and his neighbors — all in fragmented sentences that make little or no sense.

Authorities committed Grattan to Rockingham Memorial Hospital for evaluation and treatment for four days following the call.

On Monday, Grattan, 23, was convicted of 16 felonies, including first-degree murder, for the April 30 shooting of Carol Gardner, 54, and her husband, William, who survived.

His attorneys say the November 2005 phone call would have been part of an insanity defense for Grattan. They didn’t pursue that defense, however, after Rockingham County Circuit Court Judge John McGrath barred their mental health experts from testifying at trial Monday because Grattan refused visits with prosecution experts.

"There’s a consistency to the delusions and behavior that is consistent with schizophrenia," defense attorney Peter Greenspun said Tuesday, referring to the Nov. 24, 2005, 911 call and other evidence in the case.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst declined to comment on the case because Grattan has not been sentenced.

Grattan’s 911 Call

On Nov. 24, 2005, Grattan called 911, saying he’d been shot and asked that "lots of officers" come to his home at 4611 Donnelly Drive in Bridgewater.

The transcript shows that Grattan dialed 911 multiple times and spoke with operators until police arrived to take him to the hospital.

Here is one excerpt:

Caller: It’s not a game. They — They — They have a ****ing microwave up here pointed at me right now. Do you understand that?

911: Yes, sir.

Caller: Is that — that’s not even funny.

911: I understand that, sir, and I —

Caller: I’m probably going to die here in the near future.

During the call, Grattan repeatedly asks when police are going to arrive to help him, but then says he’s afraid to let them in. At one point, he says, "450 cats are probably dying from radiation poisoning right now."

Grattan also repeatedly refers to his health, saying that his "heart is barely beating" and that he’s being poisoned with radiation.

"The enemy is up on the hill and they are firing on me right now and I’m dying," he says.

Grattan also refers to his "neighbors" several times during the call.

"Now, you need to tell these officers to go up the hill and knock on the neighbor’s door because he’s — he’s fired on me multiple times," he says.

Moments later, he says: "I’ve been fired on by every exotic weapon you can imagine. Do you understand what I’m saying? Nearly killed, multiple times."

Then, Grattan says, "The phone — the phone is melting. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

Schizophrenia Or Meth

After the call, authorities committed Grattan to RMH for evaluation. He was released after four days.

During his stay he tested positive for methamphetamine and marijuana, according to hospital records in the court file. Also, a report from RMH says Grattan told a caregiver that what had led to his hospitalization was "all a hallucination."

The report also says Grattan admitted to smoking meth and marijuana, and not sleeping for three days before the 911 call.

Doctors diagnosed Grattan as having suffered "paranoid psychosis" as a result of methamphetamine use, according to court records. But the diagnosis suggests that an underlying mental disorder should also be considered.

Greenspun, Grattan’s attorney, says that he and defense psychologists believe schizophrenia is and has been the underlying problem.

Like many people who are mentally ill, Grattan was self-medicating with illicit drugs, Greenspun said.

"This is a very ill young man," he said. "And, unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to prove that."

Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com