A 911 call dispatcher at the Albuquerque Fire Department has resigned after audio was released from a recent emergency call in which he told a teen, who called to report her friend had been shot, to “deal with it yourself” before abruptly hanging up.
This past June 26, Esperanza Quintero, 17, made a 911 call after her friend Jaydon Chavez-Silver, also 17, was shot in a drive-by shooting at a house party, the Albuquerque Police Department told ABC News today.
Matthew Sanchez, the dispatcher who answered the call, can be heard repeatedly asking if the victim is breathing in audio obtained by ABC News.
Quintero, who can be heard in the audio soothing her friend and telling him to “stay with me” in the call, said she got “frustrated” after Sanchez kept asking the same questions “over and over and over again,” ABC News affiliate KOAT reported.
After asking if her friend was breathing again, Quintero replies, “He’s barely breathing. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“OK, you know what ma’am? You could deal with it yourself,” Sanchez responds. “I’m not going to deal with this, OK?
“No, my friend is dying,” Quintero responds before the dispatcher seems to hang up and the audio cuts off.
Melissa Romero, a spokeswoman for the fire department told ABC News today that “the dispatcher did dispatch units prior to disconnect” and that the “response time was four minutes and 26 seconds, which exceeds national standards.”
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SOURCE: ABC News, Avianne Tan
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