The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Two police dispatchers have received written reprimands for ridiculing a caller who claimed to be responsible for a series of highway shootings in the area.
Cara Caldwell and Barbara Taylor shrugged off the man who called 911 four times on the afternoon of Jan. 26.
“Whatever. Whatever. Whatever,” one of the dispatchers told the caller after he identified himself as the highway shooter. “You just want attention, don’t you? If you’re the shooter, where are you at?”
Police spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio said all callers are supposed to be treated with respect.
“We felt that was not met, and that’s why they were given the discipline,” she said.
The problem led to a supervisor providing new instructions on how handle 911 calls.
Most of the 24 shootings that have been linked, including one that killed a woman in November, have been at vehicles and buildings scattered along or near Interstate 270, a busy highway that circles Columbus.
The shootings began in May, though most have occurred since mid-October. The last one that authorities have connected was on Feb. 14 on I-70 east of Columbus.