911 Operator to Caller claiming to be Ohio Sniper..... "Whatever...."

http://www.nbc4columbus.com/news/2807167/detail.html ^

[LisaMalia]

This guy might be a fraud, but I can't believe how this 911 operator reacted to this call!!!!!!

[LisaMalia]

"Stay on the line, we're trying to trace your call"?.....Unbelievable!

[LisaMalia]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A total of four calls were made between a man claiming to be the serial shooter and a 911 dispatcher Monday. Friday, investigators released the tape of those calls, reported Duarte Geraldino for NewsChannel 4.

Franklin County sheriff Chief Deputy Steve Martin said Friday that a call was made to Columbus police's 911 center, but would not say when it was made. NewsChannel 4's Nancy Burton reported that sources said four calls were made by a man Monday. Sources said the man might have been hung up on twice by a dispatcher. The man called back each time. The man eventually hung up during the final call, Burton reported.

Columbus police released tapes of the calls Friday evening. Each time the man called back, he claimed to be the highway shooter. He said he was on Interstate 71 and that he was going to shoot somebody, Burton reported.

In the first call, the man said, "I'm the highway shooter." Calling back, he said he had shot into a car on I-71.

"I'm on I-71 and I just shot a car," the caller said.

The police dispatcher appeared not to take the caller seriously, according to the 911 tapes, saying "whatever" a couple of times and "Yea. Yea. Yea."

At another point she said, "You just want attention, don't you."

She also asked the caller to stay on the line while the call was traced.

"Don't hang up, we're doing a phone trace right," she said. "Stay on the line. We're trying to trace your call."

The caller then hung up, but not before offering a warning.

"M----- f-----," the caller said, "it could be you."

Task force investigators said there were no reports of shootings on I-71 Monday, or that if there were, they were not reported to authorities.

Martin said the call was the first law enforcement has received from someone claiming responsibility for the series of shootings along the south outerbelt, including one that killed a woman along Interstate 270 in November.

"That's something we're evaluating right now," Martin said of the call from someone claiming to be the shooter. "We're taking it seriously."

Martin said he only listened to portions of a tape of the call and said that the caller engaged in a back-and-forth conversation. He would not say if the caller was a man or a woman.

The dispatcher who took the calls is under investigation for her behavior and the way she handled the calls, Burton reported.

No other shootings have been linked since a bullet struck a car Jan. 21 near the Lambert Road overpass, close to the Franklin-Pickaway county line. The shooting was the 20th linked by geographic location to the serial shooter or shooters.


The driver, Michael Thomas, said that he was driving north on Interstate 71 when he saw a parked car on the Lambert Road overpass right before two shots were fired. Thomas claimed one of the shots hit his car's hood. The other shot, he said, struck the car's windshield.

[b4its2late]

They obviously don't have the brightest bulbs in the bunch in these dispatch centers.

[AlbertWang]

Cut the dispatcher a little slack......Oprah was on and they were trying to watch and this guy kept calling and bugging them.

[smith288]

I feel safer with such noble civil servants... *cough*

[b4its2late]

ROTFLMAOWAV

[theFIRMbss]

>"Whatever...."

Duh!

[reagan_fanatic]

"Stay on the line, we're trying to trace your call"

Un-frickin-believable.....

[LisaMalia]

This woman needs to lose her job. I have family and friends in Columbus. I fear for their safety every single day. The authorities *finally* get a call from someone, and this moron pulls a stunt like this.
I'm livid.

[billorites]

"Please state the nature of your emergency, snort!"

[LisaMalia]

If anyone can find the audio to this call, please post it. Thanks!

[LisaMalia]

That comment (about having a tv on) was made in jest by another poster.

[LisaMalia]

Transcript of the calls:

Call 1
Caller: ‘‘I’m the highway shooter." (Disconnected)

Call 2
Dispatcher: ‘‘911. What’s your emergency?" Caller: ‘‘I am the highway shooter." Dispatcher: ‘‘Where you at?" Caller: ‘‘Ah, don’t (expletive) worry about it." Dispatcher: ‘‘Whatever, whatever, whatever. You just want attention, don’t you?" Caller: ‘‘I’m going to shoot (inaudible) car." Dispatcher: ‘‘If you’re the shooter, where you at?" Caller: (Initial comment inaudible) ‘‘I’m up here on I-71." Dispatcher: ‘‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever." (Disconnected)

Call 3
Dispatcher: ‘‘911. What’s your emergency?" Caller: ‘‘Look, I’m up on I-71 and I just shot a car." Dispatcher: ‘‘71 where?" Caller: ‘‘On I-71." Dispatcher: ‘‘Well, my lieutenant is doing a phone trace right now. Stay on the line — we’re trying to trace your call." (Disconnected)

Call 4
Dispatcher: ‘‘911. What’s your emergency?" (Disconnected) Second dispatcher (heard in background): ‘‘Is that the same guy?" Dispatcher: ‘‘Yes."

[coloradan]

That may be so, but there isn't any proof it isn't true - and some circumstantial evidence that it is.

[proudpapa]

As dangerous as this bozo may be. I personallly love the way (intentional or not) that they dissed this guy. He's calling in wanting attention, instead he gets "whatever".

This will probably make him even more desperate for attention. He'll probably call into a radio station next and his land lady will recognize his voice and turn him in. The end.

[LisaMalia]

I personallly love the way (intentional or not) that they dissed this guy

Are you kidding? This is totally unprofessional and irresponsible behavior for even a regular office receptionist, let alone a 911 operator.

This will probably make him even more desperate for attention

Yeah, that's just what we need. He may never call again, but keep shooting. Keep in mind, this is the first call from anyone claiming responsibility after months of these shootings, and one woman was murdered.

[muawiyah]

When Malvo and Muhammad were roaming around Northern Virginia killing people they regularly called into the "command center" set up to receive tips.

They were just as regularly blown off.

The folks answering the phone wanted "tips", not "negotiation". I am sure the same sort of psychology was at work here. Besides, as it turned out, this really was a crank call ~ no shots had been fired that day.

[LisaMalia]

Besides, as it turned out, this really was a crank call ~ no shots had been fired that day.

That they know of.