"Why Are You Whispering?" Fired 911 Operator Who Hung Up on US Mass Shooting Report in Anger

Controversy Over Inadequate Response by Situation Room Staff Regarding Buffalo Supermarket Shooting Incident

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] Last month, a 911 dispatch center employee was fired for hanging up the phone because the caller was whispering during a mass shooting incident at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

On the 4th (local time), according to The New York Times (NYT), Peter Anderson, spokesperson for Erie County authorities, the jurisdiction of the incident, stated via email that the dispatch center employee was dismissed following a disciplinary hearing.

The dispatch center employee, who had worked in Erie County for eight years, was placed on paid administrative leave starting from the 16th of last month after inadequate response during the incident came under scrutiny.

At the time of the incident, Latisha Rogers, assistant manager of Tops Friendly Market, hid inside the store and called 911. She had to speak in a low voice to avoid being heard by the shooter, but the 911 dispatch center employee reportedly got angry and hung up the phone.

Rogers said, "The dispatch center employee yelled, 'Why are you whispering? There's no need to whisper.' I kept pleading, 'A man is shooting inside the store. Lives are in danger,' but the employee angrily hung up the phone."

In an interview with the NYT, Rogers said she hid behind the customer service counter after hearing gunshots and called 911 on her cellphone. She added that the dispatch center employee questioned why she was whispering and then hung up.

Mark Poloncarz, the administrative head of Erie County, said at a press conference last month that the dispatch center employee's response was "absolutely unacceptable" and initiated disciplinary procedures. The content of the 911 call has not been released.

Peyton Gendron (18), a white supremacist, entered a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo on the 14th of last month and opened fire. Ten Black people inside the supermarket were killed and three were injured, making this one of the worst racially motivated mass shootings in U.S. history.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.