Dispatcher accused of hanging up on 911 call
Victim hiding from shooter in Buffalo market
A disciplinary hearing is expected later this month to look into the conduct of a 911 dispatcher, who allegedly hung up on a Buffalo shooting survivor pleading for help on May 14.
The woman making the call was working at the Tops supermarket where 18-yearold Payton Gendron is accused of opening fire in the predominantly Black neighbourhood and leaving 10 dead.
The woman told The Buffalo News that she hid behind the customer service counter and dialed 911. She said she tried to keep her voice down so she wouldn't attract the shooter's attention.
“She was yelling at me, saying, `Why are you whispering? You don't have to whisper,' and I was telling her, `Ma'am, he's still in the store. He's shooting. I'm scared for my life. I don't want him to hear me. Can you please send help?' She got mad at me, hung up in my face,” Latisha Rogers told the outlet.
She said she felt like the dispatcher had left her to die. She then called her boyfriend and asked him to call police.
After an investigation, the dispatcher was put on administrative leave on Monday and could be fired at a disciplinary hearing planned for May 30, according to Erie County spokesperson Peter Anderson, the New York Times reported.
The recording or transcript of the call is not likely to be released publicly because of a New York county law that says they should not be used by any entity or person, “other than that municipality's public safety agency, another government agency or body” or for any commercial purpose.
Meanwhile, a New York grand jury has indicted Gendron, prosecutors said on Thursday at a brief court hearing. Buffalo City Court Judge Craig Hannah adjourned the hearing after a few minutes and scheduled the suspect to appear again on June 9. He will remain in custody without bond.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said the grand jury had not yet completed an investigation into whether prosecutors had enough evidence to bring Gendron to trial on more charges.
The defendant for now stands charged with a single count of first-degree murder in the shooting of 13 people — 11 of them Black — at a Tops Friendly Markets store on Saturday afternoon. Gendron faces life in prison without parole if convicted on the murder charge.
Flynn said in a statement he would have no further comment on the case until the grand jury was done.
The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as a hate crime and an act of “racially motivated violent extremism.” Authorities have pointed to a white supremacist diatribe he is suspected of posting online before the shooting.