An officer at the scene overheard Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me," the report said.

By JAMES W. WADE III
Staff Reporter 

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI announced they have opened an investigation into the Feb. 26 shooting in Florida of an unarmed 17year-old, Trayvon Martin.

"The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation," the department said.

A self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman who pursued and then shot dead an unarmed Martin outside his stepmother's home last month in Sanford, Fla., reportedly wanted to be a police officer and had called 9-1-1 50 times in the last year.

Martin, a Black high-school junior, was making his way home with a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea on Feb. 26 when Zimmerman spotted him, called a non-emergency dispatch number to report Martin looked intoxicated, followed him, and then minutes later after an altercation, shot him.

Zimmerman, 28, who is White, claimed self defense. He was never arrested and has been charged with no crime, sparking national outrage. Radio host Michael Baisden and National Action Network’s Rev. Al Sharpton will hold a rally Thursday. The rally will be at the First Shiloh Baptist Church, Sanford, FL 32771 at 7 p.m.

Tuesday the girlfriend of slain Miami teenager Martin spoke to the family attorneys, detailing the final moments before he was shot to death by Zimmerman.

The 16-year-old girl, who was not identified, said in a phone call recorded by ABC News that as Trayvon was walking he told her "some man was watching him" so he pulled his hoodie over his head.

She told attorneys she then heard the 17-year-old ask "What are you following me for?"

Then a man, presumably Zimmerman, replied: "What are you doing around here?"

Other celebrities like movie director Spike Lee and musician Wyclef Jean, signed a petition on Change.org, a social action website, calling for the arrest of the shooter, Zimmerman.

The victim's family lawyer, Ben Crump, said public pressure was behind an earlier promise by the Justice Department to review the case. And some Florida legislators are moving to consider a change in the law to prevent a recurrence.

"People all over the world, more than 400,000 people, said we demand you make an arrest. That's what is building pressure to look at it," Crump said.

The Justice Department said its investigation would examine the facts and circumstances of the shooting, and noted that with all federal civil rights crimes, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally.

"Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws," the Justice Department said.

The night of Feb. 26, Zimmerman made a non-emergency call to police before fatally shooting Martin, in which he told a dispatcher, "This guy looks like he's up to no good, on drugs or something."

But law enforcement expert Rod Wheeler who listened to the tapes said that Zimmerman, not Martin, sounded intoxicated in the police recordings of the 911 calls.

"When I listened to the 911 tape the first thing that came to my mind is this guy sounds intoxicated. Notice how he's slurring his words. We as trained law enforcement officers, we know how to listen for that right away and I think that's going to be an important element of this entire investigation," Wheeler said. But Zimmerman was not tested.

The series of calls to police, which depict the apparent progression of events that led to Zimmerman allegedly shooting Martin, sent the boy's mother screaming from the room and prompted his father to declare, "He killed my son," according to a family representative.

On one call to a non-emergency dispatch number, according to Julison, Zimmerman says, "He's checking me out," and then, "This guy looks like he's on drugs, he's definitely messed up."

"These a**holes always get away," he adds. The dispatcher is heard trying to discourage Zimmerman, asking, "Are you following him?.. Okay, we don't need you to do that."

Within minutes, however, 911 calls are being made to police reporting the two are fighting.

"They're wrestling right in the back of my porch," one frantic caller says. "The guy's yelling help and I'm not going out."

On a second call someone's screams for help can be heard and what sounds like two gunshots.

"There's gun shots. Uh, I'm pretty sure the guy is dead out here, holy sh**," a caller says into the phone.

One witness describes Zimmerman after the shooting. "He's out there with a flashlight. The guy is raising his hands up saying he shot the person," the caller said.

Martin's family listened to eight tapes, Julison said. At one point, Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's mother, ran out of the room screaming and crying, barely lasting through half the tapes.

The boy's father, Tracey Martin, "He killed my son," Martin said, according to Julison. "He killed my son. He couldn't control himself."

"It's surprising. It's shocking," said Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father. "It lets me know that justice is just not being served here. All we want is justice for our son. We're not asking for anything out of the ordinary."

According to the police report, Zimmerman, who was armed with a handgun, was found bleeding from the nose and the back of the head, standing over Martin, who was unresponsive after being shot.

An officer at the scene overheard Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me," the report said.

But after the shooting, a source inside the police department said that a narcotics detective and not a homicide detective first approached Zimmerman. The detective peppered Zimmerman with questions, the source said, rather than allow Zimmerman to tell his story. Questions can lead a witness, the source said.

Trayvon Martin's family is seeking justice for their son. Trayvon Martin had no arrest record or disciplinary action for violence as a student in North Miami's Krop High School.