A 911 dispatcher is set to be fired after asking a supermarket worker why she was whispering as the Buffalo mass shooting unfolded around her.
Latisha Rogers, an assistant office manager at Tops Friendly Markets, called the emergency services as the violence which killed 10 people took place.
Now city authorities are investigating the incident as Ms Rogers says the dispatcher hung up on her and officials say they plan to sack the worker later this month.
“I proceeded to whisper because I didn’t know how many people there were in the store or anything, I didn’t want to be heard,” Ms Rogers told CNN of the 911 call.
And she says the dispatcher responded: “‘What? I can’t hear you. Why are you whispering? You don’t have to whisper, they can’t hear you.’”
Erie County officials say that the dispatcher has been placed on administrative leave, with County Executive Mark Poloncarz calling the behavior “inappropriate.”
“We teach our 911 call takers that if someone is whispering, it probably means they are in trouble,” he said.
He added that at a 30 May hearing “our intention is to terminate the 911 call taker who acted totally inappropriately, not following protocol.”
Officials say that the dispatcher’s name would not be released in line with department policy on any employee under administrative suspension or leave.
Payton Gendron, 18, has been indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder charegs and will be arraigned in court next month. He is being held in jail with no bail.
All 10 of those who lost their lives were Black, six women and four men.
It is expected that the suspect will face additional murder and attempted murder counts and state hate crime charges. The FBI is also running its own investigation and the Department of Justice could add federal hate crime and terrorism charges.
