A 911 emergency operator reacted with annoyance when a supermarket worker called for help during Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo. Resignation now hangs over her head.
The operator of the American emergency number 911, comparable to 112 in the Netherlands, is currently on leave and may lose her job. she was at work when a white man sat in a supermarket in Buffalo killed ten black people.
During the panic that ensued, a store employee sought a hiding place while calling 911. She did not dare to speak loudly during the conversation with the emergency services because she was afraid of being discovered. The operator is said to have yelled at her: “Why are you whispering?!” Then she would have ended the conversation.
Research
The victim says to The Buffalo News that she eventually had to call her boyfriend to alert emergency services. A day after the shooting, the police are said to have checked internally what exactly had happened during the telephone conversation. For the time being, the operator is not allowed to perform her function.
However, an Erie County council official says it is still unclear who ended the conversation. Fortunately, other 911 calls went through well, according to NBC News. The first officers were even on the scene within minutes.
Inspired by hate crime
Right-wing extremist Payton Gendron headed to Buffalo’s Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly black neighborhood this weekend to cause a massacre. He may have been inspired by hate crimes like in Christchurch in New Zealand in 2019 and a shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas the same year.
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