PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Attorneys for former Port Richey mayor Dale Massad took members of the media on a tour of Massad's home on Friday in an effort to "set the record straight" about Massad's actions on the night authorities say he fired shots at Pasco County Sheriff's Office deputies.

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“Some of the information that’s been going out there seems to indicate Mr. Massad intended to hurt any police officer or shoot in their direction, and what we wanted you to see is that was a physical impossibility,” Massad’s attorney, Denis Devlaming, said.

Massid’s attorneys do not deny he fired those shots when he heard loud noises at his front door at 4 a.m. But they say he didn’t know he was shooting at law enforcement when he fired those shots and they say they have proof.

New details revealed

First, they performed a demonstration to show just how faint the banging on the front door of the home is from behind the closed bedroom door where Massad slept that night.

Then they released a 911 call made by Massad’s girlfriend from inside the home the night of the incident. 

“What’s going on? Is the sheriff’s office really here? What’s going on? We don’t know anybody that’s here. Is the sheriff’s office really here?” she can be heard saying during the call.

At one point the 911 dispatcher asks what the woman is seeing or hearing.

“The sheriff’s office," she answers. "They say it’s the sheriff’s office, but we don’t know if it’s the sheriff’s office.”

Shots were meant as warning shots

Moments before that call was made Massad’s attorneys say their client fired shots when his door was breached, not knowing who was forcing their way in.

“They were warning shots," Devlaming said. "His house had been burglarized twice, and from the 911 tape you can tell that both of them didn’t know if these were real cops or fake cops."

Massad’s other attorney, Bjorn Brunvand, said the facts of the case just don’t add up.

“Was it scary to hear two gunshots? Absolutely," Brunvand said. "Might they have assumed at the time that he was firing [at them]? Sure. But the bottom line is when you look at the forensics, he wasn’t."

Both attorneys also had a problem with the way the search warrant was served.

“Why don’t you arrest him where he works? He’s the mayor of Port Richey," Devlaming said. "You wait for him to go to work. You walk up and say 'mayor, somebody just tapped your car, we need you to come downstairs. Oh, by the way, turn around, you’re under arrest.”

Relevant statute?

In Massad’s arrest report there’s a statute cited that says if a person uses force against a law enforcement officer who enters their house, the shooter should know he's shooting at law enforcement. 

Massad’s attorneys, however, say that statute shouldn't apply, since he didn’t know he was shooting at law enforcement.

They also maintain that since they never entered the home, he shouldn’t be charged with five counts of attempted murder, and at the very least he should be issued a bond.