By Sarah Ravani
San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco emergency dispatcher Janet Atchan was in the last hour of a 12-hour shift when she got the call she and her colleagues fear most.
“Shots fired. Officer down.”
Atchan, 46, drew on her 25 years of experience as a dispatcher as she mobilized emergency crews and backup police officers to the scene, and even took calls from witnesses with tips on the suspect’s whereabouts.
On Tuesday, Atchan was named Dispatcher of the Year for staying cool under pressure and helping to save San Francisco Police Officer Kevin Downs’ life after he was shot in the head following a confrontation on Oct. 14 at the Lakeshore Plaza Shopping Center.
“Your adrenaline goes from 0 to 100 and it’s scary, it’s a lot of confusion. You just can’t believe it’s real,” Atchan said. “I’m happy the officer is recovering very well.”
She also received a special commendation by supervisors Katy Tang and Norman Yee for her response.
“We are so grateful that people like Janet are there to calmly handle all the emergency situations that arise in the City. Emergency dispatchers work hard behind the scenes, and often times their work goes unnoticed,” Tang said in a statement to The Chronicle.
Atchan received a call about 8:15 p.m. that seemed routine, “a man was acting erratically at a shopping center,” said Francis Zamora, a spokesman for the city Department of Emergency Management.
Within minutes, the situation escalated.
When police officers got to the shopping center on the 1500 block of Sloat Boulevard, a security guard pointed them toward the suspect on Everglade Drive, and the man immediately fired multiple shots, striking Downs in the head, police said.
Downs survived the incident and police officials say it was due to Atchan’s speedy coordination in dispatching emergency crews.
“We are just very grateful and thankful that she maintained her professionalism and did her job,” said Officer Giselle Talkoff, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Police Department. “We are very thankful that she was there and helped out.”
When Atchan heard the words “officer down” on the police scanner frequency, she immediately coordinated emergency responders to transport Downs to San Francisco General Hospital, she said.
“There’s that adrenaline, that fear and that concern. A lot of different feelings happening at one time really,” Atchan said.
She then worked with fellow dispatchers to establish a search perimeter within the neighborhood so that police could catch the assailant. As they worked with police, Atchan and other dispatchers were also fielding calls from community members with tips, including a wedding party that was near the shooting, Atchan said.
“As you can imagine, that’s incredibly intense and requires a lot of coordination,” Zamora said.
The bullet that hit Downs in the head missed his main cerebral artery by less than a centimeter, but caused a skull fracture and brain trauma that left his right leg paralyzed, police said.
The gunman, 26-year-old Nicholas McWherter, who grew up in Pacifica and battled mental illness, was shot during the confrontation with police. He died two days after the shootout.
That night, Atchan was calm and collected as she worked to respond, Zamora said.
But once her headset came off, the shock started to set in and she started shaking and crying, Zamora said.
“The situation overcame her,” Zamora said. “In her 25-year career, that has never happened to her before.”
Atchan is a fourth generation San Franciscan who grew up in the Fillmore neighborhood, but now lives in Oakland.
While working as a dispatcher, she attended night classes at UC Berkeley and earned a degree in sociology.
She eventually earned an MBA from University of San Francisco, which she hopes to use working in sports management after her dispatching days are over.
Atchan and Downs’ story isn’t over yet. The two haven’t met, but a future meeting is in the works, Atchan said.
“As a dispatcher, even with our 911 calls, we don’t see the people,” Atchan said. “So a lot of times, the end of our story isn’t complete because we don’t really get to see the person or meet the person. I’m really looking forward to actually meeting him and giving him a hug.”
———
©2017 the San Francisco Chronicle
https://www.facebook.com/SFDEM/posts/10154861180249230