911 Situation Room employee who hung up in anger on the chopping board
Reports have emerged that an employee of the 911 Situation Room who hung up the phone because the caller was whispering was fired during a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York last month.
According to the New York Times on the 4th local time, Peter Anderson, a spokeswoman for Erie County, the jurisdiction over the case, said the situation room staff had been fired. The employee had been on paid leave from the 16th of last month as the response at the time of the incident went up on the cutting board.
The incident took place on the 14th of last month in a black neighborhood in Buffalo. Peyton Zendren, a white supremacist, entered a supermarket and opened fire with his gun. As a result, 10 black people were killed and 3 others were injured.
The supermarket assistant manager at the time, Rogers, hid inside the store and called 911. He was afraid of being caught by the criminal, so he said in a low voice, but the situation room staff at the time got angry and hung up the phone. Rogers said the employee “shouted, ‘Why are you whispering. You don’t have to whisper'”.
When this became known, Erie County initiated disciplinary proceedings. The content of the 911 call was not disclosed.