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Trayvon Martin Shooter Told Cops Teenager Went For His Gun

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abc ht trayvon martin george zimmerman jt 120318 wg?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1332783493370ABC News; Orange County Jail(SANFORD, Fla.) — George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch crime captain who shot dead 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, originally told police in a written statement that Martin knocked him down with a punch to the nose, repeatedly slammed his head on the ground and tried to take his gun, a police source told ABC News.

Zimmerman had claimed he had called police about Martin, whom he found suspicious, then went back to his car when Martin attacked him, punching him.

The new information is the most complete version yet of what Zimmerman claims happened on the night of Feb. 26 when he shot and killed the teenager.

In addition, an eyewitness, 13-year-old Austin Brown, told police he saw a man fitting Zimmerman’s description lying on the grass moaning and crying for help just seconds before he heard the gunshot that killed Martin.

The initial police report noted that Zimmerman was bleeding from the back of the head and nose, and after medical attention it was decided that he was in good enough condition to travel in a police cruiser to the Sanford, Fla., police station for questioning. He was not arrested.

Martin’s girlfriend had said in a recording obtained exclusively by ABC News that she heard Martin ask Zimmerman “why are your following me, and then the man asked, what are you doing around here.” She then heard a scuffle break out and the line went dead.

Phone records obtained by ABC News show that the girl, who is 16 and asked to remain anonymous, called Martin at 7:12 p.m., five minutes before police arrived, and remained on the phone with Martin until moments before he was shot.

ABC News has also learned that Martin was staying in Sanford at the time because he’d been suspended from Krop High School in Miami after being found with an empty bag of marijuana. He was staying at his father’s fiancé’s house in Sanford.

Family spokesperson Ryan Julison confirmed to ABC News that Martin was suspended for an “empty baggy that had contained pot.”

“It’s irrelevant to what happened on Feb. 26, does not change material facts of the situation, specifically that had George Zimmerman not left his vehicle and heeded the police dispatcher’s guidance, we wouldn’t be here today,” Julison said.

During Zimmerman’s call to 911, the dispatcher asked him if he was following the teen. When Zimmerman replied that he was, the dispatcher said, “We don’t need you to do that.”

The new information in the emotionally charged case could complicate pressing charges against Zimmerman.

Zimmerman shot Martin dead the night of Feb. 26 after following him for several minutes. Zimmerman told police Martin looked suspicious because he was wearing a hoodie, and when he confronted him the two fought — ultimately resulting in a single bullet in Martin’s chest.

Zimmerman claimed self defense and this weekend the lawyer counseling him, Craig Sonner, told ABC News that he was likely to invoke Florida’s controversial stand-your-ground law in his defense.

The law affords people leeway to use deadly force if they feel their life is seriously endangered. Sonner said Zimmerman felt “one of them was going to die that night,” when he pulled the trigger.

ABC News has learned there is tremendous pressure from local and state authorities for an arrest.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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