An Erie County, New York, 911 dispatcher is on administrative leave after the assistant manager of a Tops supermarket in Buffalo said the dispatcher hung up on her when she called about Saturday's mass shooting in which 10 people were killed and three others wounded.
''I tried to call 911, and I was whispering because I could hear him close by,'' the store's assistant manager, who identified herself as Latisha, told Buffalo television station WGRZ 2.
''And when I whispered on the phone to 911, the dispatcher started yelling at me saying 'Why are you whispering? You don't have to whisper.' And I'm trying to tell her like, 'Ma'am, he's in the store. He's shooting. It's an active shooter. I'm scared for my life.' And she said something crazy to me and then she hung up in my face. And I had to call my boyfriend to call 911.''
The station reported that the Erie County Sheriff's Office, which handles the 911 calls for the city, confirmed that the dispatcher was placed on administrative leave after learning of the allegation, and ''immediate action was taken and the individual who took that call is now on administrative leave pending a disciplinary hearing, which should happen within a couple of weeks.''
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said that police responded to the shooting report within two minutes of receiving other 911 calls.
According to The New York Times, Payton Gendron, 18, of Conklin, New York, drove more than 200 miles from his Broome County home to a predominantly Black area of Buffalo and opened fire in the supermarket Saturday afternoon.
Gendron, who surrendered to police at the store, was charged in Buffalo City Court with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty, the Times reported.
He reportedly published a 180-page manifesto online that, according to the Times, outlined his plan to kill as many Black people as possible.
The Department of Justice said in a statement Saturday that it is investigating the shooting as a ''hate crime.''
''Tonight, the country mourns the victims of a senseless, horrific shooting in Buffalo, New York. The FBI and ATF are working closely with the Buffalo Police Department and federal, state, and local law enforcement partners,'' Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the statement.
''The Justice Department is investigating this matter as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism. The Justice Department is committed to conducting a thorough and expeditious investigation into this shooting and to seeking justice for these innocent victims.''
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