White Oak Park Shooting – 911 Calls Released – Houston, We STILL Have A Problem

Paris, Edgar Co., Ill. (ECWd) –

Approximately 16 years ago, I received a 911 as an EMT for an 11-day-old baby not breathing.  Eastern Illinois did a segment on that call which exposed the failures within our Edgar County 911 system. It was that very call that was behind the creation of the Edgar County Watchdogs.  Video of the newscast of what I uncovered, dispatchers not being certified for 6 years, can be viewed at this link.

During the recent Emergency Telephone System Board meeting, the first thing I asked was, “Are our dispatchers licensed?  I was assured they are but have not asked IDPH for those records yet in order to confirm, as I was told the same thing 16 years ago, which turned out to be a lie.  It was during this meeting that the issues with the dispatchers who handled the 911 call from the shooting at White Oak Park in Paris were discussed.

We now have the three 911 calls from the White Oaks Park shooting incident. It appears we still have a problem, and this time someone was being shot at.

*For those who are not familiar with how our Enhanced 911 system works, we will keep it simple.  If a dispatcher pays attention to the CAD system screen, the caller’s location appears.  While it may not be an exact location at times, it will be in very close proximity.  I point this out because of the very troubling comments and actions/inaction that could be identified in the calls.

*Note the caller could not provide his exact location when requested by the dispatcher. Someone was trying to kill him, and he clearly was winded, probably from running for his life.  Note the dispatcher’s comment about calming down and indicating that he is walking all over the place.  How on earth would she know he was walking all over the place?  The E911 system provides the location, and considering the guy was trying to avoid getting killed, he was probably moving around.  That little detail indicates she knew where he was, and there was little reason to take the tone that she did and keep asking him where he was located.

*After listening to all three calls, of which one you can hear gunshots in the background, it appears the lack of substantive training with some dispatchers is still a problem today, just as it was 16 years ago.

Edgar County 911 Call 1  –

Edgar County 911 Call 2  –

Edgar County 911 Call 3 –