A 9-11 dispatcher who hung up on an employee who called in to report the mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket has been placed on leave, but county officials are pushing to have her fired, WGRZ reports.
“Immediate action was taken in this case and the individual who took that call is now on administrative leave pending a disciplinary hearing, which should happen within a couple of weeks,” a spokesperson for the county told Insider.
“Termination will be sought” for the employee who has worked for the county for eight years, the spokesperson said.
The mass shooting, carried out by an 18-year-old white supremacist, left 10 people dead and three wounded.
Speaking to WGRZ, The store’s assistant manager, identified only by her first name, Latisha, said she called 9-11 when the shooting started.
People called for help and this was the response… pic.twitter.com/EFLG2gJn28
— India Walton From Buffalo (@Indiawaltonbflo) May 16, 2022
“I tried to call 911, and I was whispering because I could hear him close by,” she said. “And when I whispered on the phone to 911, the dispatcher started yelling at me saying ‘Why are you whispering? You don’t have to whisper.’ And I’m trying to tell her like, ‘Ma’am, he’s in the store. He’s shooting. It’s an active shooter. I’m scared for my life.’ And she said something crazy to me and then she hung up in my face.”
Erie County, which runs the 911 communications center through Central Police Services, confirmed to WKRG that the incident is being investigated and “immediate action was taken and the individual who took that call is now on administrative leave pending a disciplinary hearing, which should happen within a couple of weeks.”
