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911 Dispatcher Who Hung Up On Grocery Store Worker During Buffalo Shooting Placed On Leave
A 911 dispatcher was placed on administrative leave for hanging up on a woman who was calling from inside the Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York during the mass shooting that took place on May 14.
She was hiding from the active gunman who went on a racially-motivated shooting rampage and was whispering on the phone with the emergency responder.
A 911 dispatcher was placed on administrative leave after a worker at the Buffalo supermarket said her call for help was rudely cut off as she hidhttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/911-dispatcher-buffalo-shooting_n_6284a1a5e4b003ed29685842\u00a0\u2026— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1652878428
The distressed caller, whose name is Latisha, was an assistant manager at the store.
When she heard gunshots inside the supermarket, she immediately called 911.
When she reached the dispatcher on the phone, Latisha said she was whispering because she could hear the shooter close by.
She told WGRZ that when she informed 911 about the pandaemonium inside the store, the dispatcher said in a "nasty tone":
"I can't hear you. Why are you whispering? You don't have to whisper. They can't hear you."
Unbelievable. 911 doesn\u2019t have a volume control? Aren\u2019t they recording too?— MariusRex (@MariusRex) 1652764500
My jaw dropped. There are so many reasons a person would whisper when they call 911.— Stacey J. Spiehler (@Stacey J. Spiehler) 1652821387
Latisha continued trying to reason with the operator by explaining the gunman was still in the store and actively shooting.
"I'm scared for my life," Latisha told the dispatcher. "Please send help."
Latisha said at one point during the call, her phone fell out of her hand out of nervousness.
When she tried to resume with the distress call, the phone had been hung up.
A witness at #TopsSupermarket call 911 and the dispatcher was disrespectful and hung up while the shooting was happening. #BuffaloMassacre #Buffalo #BuffaloNY #buffalosupermarketpic.twitter.com/8LpCxKtOjJ— Lions Den \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 US FREEDMEN (@Lions Den \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 US FREEDMEN) 1652768007
What a horrific failure of duty.— Jason Beedon \u767d\u542f\u534e (@Jason Beedon \u767d\u542f\u534e) 1652880354
You can watch the interview with Latisha in this news clip.
911 Dispatcher Allegedly Hung Up On Caller During Buffalo Shootingyoutu.be
Erie County, which oversees the 911 call center, told the Huffington Post the incident "has been investigated" and "immediate action was taken.
A spokesperson for the county, Peter Anderson, said in a statement:
“The individual who took that call is now on administrative leave pending a disciplinary hearing."
On administrative leave...wth— Realtalk247 (@Realtalk247) 1652886153
On \u201cleave\u201d? That needs to be permanent. Completely unacceptable.— JB (@JB) 1652918375
Leave? How about termination? What a shame.— mosbob (@mosbob) 1652918913
Pay should be paused, investigation should be conducted, facts gathered and then decision should be made. If found guilty there should be some kind of accountability. When we call 911 a dispatcher should NOT determined the fate. Their job is to help the citizens who are in need!!— Liza Anastasi Pane (@Liza Anastasi Pane) 1652921845
Anderson told the media outlet the dispatcher had been working in the county for eight years.
Because police responded to the call in roughly 30 seconds, Anderson said the employee's actions “had no bearing on the dispatching of the call.”
He added the county's intent is to terminate the employee who "acted totally inappropriately" and "not following protocol."
The call was recorded and heard - leave shouldn\u2019t apply to this situation— RespectisEarnednotGIVEN (@RespectisEarnednotGIVEN) 1652880293
She should be unemployable in the emergency services business.— Christopher \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Is Pro-Choice (@Christopher \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Is Pro-Choice) 1652890942
The mass shooting–in which ten people were killed and three others were injured–was called an act of domestic terrorism and deemed a racially-motivated attack on the predominantly Black neighborhood of Kingsley on the Eastern side of the city.
The accused, who was an 18-year-old White supremacist who supported the far-right nationalist's "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, live-streamed the shooting on Twitch.
He was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder.
As for the 911 dispatcher, Latisha she couldn't "believe that someone from 911 just hung up on my face."
"She didn't care and left me for dead."
The county executive told WGRZ he will look into releasing the transcript from that 911 call.