They were hiding in a place security officers called a `` safe area . '' It was anything but . Outside an angry crowd grew , gunfire rang out and a fire blazed . Thick smoke blinded the three trapped men . The intruders banged on the fortified safety gate of the bunker-like villa . A security officer handed his cell phone to Ambassador Chris Stevens . Prepare for the mob to blast open the locks of the safety gate , the officer said . Security blog : Benghazi review critical of State 's diplomatic security . It was a little before 10 at night on September 11 , 2012 . And time was running out for Stevens . Vivid new details of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi , Libya , were released Tuesday night by a federal committee trying to come to grips with the violence that led to the first murder of a U.S. ambassador since 1988 and the deaths of three other Americans . The report spoke of grossly inadequate security , an issue that Stevens had complained about well before September 11 . State Department resignations follow Benghazi report . The brief phone call . Instead of blasting their way into the villa , the crowd retreated for some reason . But the fire still blazed . Stevens used the cell phone to try to alert others about the attack . Struggling to see , choked by smoke , he dialed . Read more : Benghazi problems suggest long list of changes . He may have wanted to tell embassy officials in Tripoli that he and the small security detail at that 13-acre compound were in big trouble . They were outmanned , outgunned . The militants had doused a large area with diesel fuel and started a hideous fire . He may have wanted to say that he was trapped in a building they called Villa C with a security officer , and Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith . They had to flee to the villa after intruders stormed the walled-in consulate compound armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades . But in that 9:50 p.m. phone call , Stevens could only tell the U.S. deputy chief of the mission in Tripoli that they were under attack . The call promptly dropped . Warning signs . Though fierce and sudden , the attack may not have been surprising for some . U.S. diplomats who worked in Libya , a country struggling to form a government after overthrowing longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi , had repeatedly asked for more security . American officials , for the most part , were well-received in Libya , where many locals were grateful for the help the United States provided in overthrowing Gadhafi . But danger remained . Read more : State Department : Clinton not dodging Benghazi hearings . There were still many Gadhafi loyalists , there was easy access to guns and the new fledgling government was having a difficult time maintaining security . On June 1 , a car bomb exploded outside a hotel in Tripoli where Stevens was staying . Read more : Benghazi talking points omitted link to al Qaeda . The same month , Stevens had to move with his security team from the hotel because of a `` credible ' threat . On June 6 , a roadside bomb exploded near the U.S. compound in Benghazi , hurting no one but blasting a large hole in a wall of the compound . The threats continued for U.S. officials and diplomats from other countries -- but security staffing remained unchanged . The ambassador is missing . But now , there was no time to fret about woeful security . Black smoke was filling up the safe area . Stevens , Smith and the security officer crawled to a bathroom , hoping to open a window . The security officer placed towels under the bathroom door and flung open the panes . It made things worse . The open window pulled more smoke into the bathroom , making breathing impossible . Despite the explosions outside , they would have to flee the safe area , the officer thought . The smoke had choked out the lights . They were in total darkness . The officer left the bathroom , crawled through a hallway , banging on the floor and yelling that the ambassador and Smith follow him . He slipped though another window and collapsed in an enclosed patio area . And then he noticed it . Stevens and Smith were not there . The officer slipped back through the window several times , even though the intruders were still shooting at him . The smoke and heat was unbearable . He could not find either man . He used a ladder to climb to the roof of the villa and radioed for help . He had been in the smoky room for so long he could hardly speak . It took some time for the officers on the other end of the line to understand what he was saying . He did not have Smith , he said . And the ambassador is missing . The battle at the Annex . Three other security officers had barricaded themselves in another building when the siege began . Once the first wave of attackers seemed to retreat , the officers got out of their `` defensive '' positions and drove an armored car to the villa . They found their colleague on the roof , vomiting , about to pass out . The three officers crawled through the smoke inside . Read more : Ex-CIA chief Petraeus testifies Benghazi attack was al Qaeda-linked terrorism . They found Smith . They dragged his body out . But they were too late . A team , from a nearby U.S. facility called the Annex , arrived and helped search for Stevens . They could not find him . Concerned that the large crowd of militants was about to overtake the entire compound , they decided to flee back to the Annex without Stevens . Men in the crowd began shooting , the bullets almost piercing the armored vehicle and blowing out two of its tires . They drove on . At least two vehicles followed them . They made it to the Annex , preparing for another fight . It was about 11:30 at night . Just before midnight , bullets began hitting the Annex . This started a gun battle that lasted for an hour . Hours later , another wave of attacks hit the facility with mortars , killing security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty . Finding Stevens . Hours passed and no one knew where Stevens was . About 2 a.m. , the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli received a phone call . It was from the cell phone of the security officer who had given his phone to Stevens . The man on the line spoke Arabic , telling embassy officials that Stevens had been taken to a hospital in Benghazi . Officials could not determine what hospital Stevens was taken to . Some wondered if the phone call was a trick from militants who wanted to lure U.S. officers to their death . A Libyan official was sent to Benghazi Medical Center . He said Stevens was there . Hospital staff said six civilians brought Stevens to the emergency room about 1:15 a.m . Even though the ambassador showed no signs of life , doctors worked to revive him for 45 minutes . It was too late .
U.S. . Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in 1988 . He was the first U.S ambassador murdered since 1988 . Along with Chris Stevens , three other Americans were killed .