The Buffalo Shooting is the deadliest mass shooting to happen this year in America, and the latest of violence expressed towards POC by white supremacists. 

As more and more witnesses come forward with their recollection of the events that devastated Buffalo, NY—one in particular speaks to a glaring problem that exists in emergency services when it comes to violence that occurs, especially in Black communities and other communities of color. 

Latisha, the assistant store manager of the Tops where the mass shooting took place, called 911 while crouched behind the customer service counter whispering as not to be detected by the terrorist firing on shoppers with a semiautomatic rifle. 

The 911 operator who answered asked her to speak up.

""Ma'am, he's still in the store," Latisha recalled saying. "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 said she then called her boyfriend and told him to call 911."

This behavior is not indicative of how emergency services should treat any caller, and this particular situation shows how imperative it is for dispatchers to listen to callers, and how not doing so can result in many lost lives.

It also points to a larger problem—the way in which dispatchers and emergency services often treat callers, victims and families from communities of color—with disdain, intolerance and indifference to their problems, which can lead to larger escalation of violence and death.

We are demanding that Erie County and NYS release the call to the press and public, the name of the dispatcher, as well as termination and active pursuit of criminal charges for interference with emergency calls.

This sort of negligence is unacceptable and does not come without repercussions when there are potentially lives at stake in every single call. New York State must make an example out of bad actors in emergency services to ensure that this does not happen again.

New York State can accomplish this by employing an independent group that will audit calls to ensure that dispatchers are operating within protocol and within the best of their ability in each situation. This independent group should be funded/contracted by the federal government, instead of the local state government in such a way to ensure that no one individual, entity, or consortium can influence the decisions or determinations made by the auditors. These measures will insure that every single call, regardless of zoning, is taken seriously. 

Here is Ms. Latisha’s recount of event, in both written and visual form:

News Report by WGRZ-TV NBC 2 May 14, 2022 https://youtu.be/2LSfhy4rUKM 

The Buffalo News “Tops employee: 'I just keep hearing gunshots and just seeing the bodies'” Jon Harris, May 16, 2022 https://buffalonews.com/news/local/tops-employee-i-just-keep-hearing-gunshots-and-just-seeing-the-bodies/article_994259ec-d466-11ec-9ca9-6f1d97bedb40.amp.html