On Thursday, a disciplinary hearing was held, and the decision reached at the end of the hearing was that an Erie County dispatcher should be terminated from their position.
An internal investigation that took place a month ago revealed that a 911 dispatcher for a gunman at a supermarket store in Buffalo, New York hung up on a caller who was reporting the problem when the gunman was in the store.
On May 16, Peter Anderson, a dispatcher who has worked for the Erie County Central Police Services Department for the past eight years, disclosed to the press that the dispatcher had been placed on administrative leave since that date “while the mishandled call was evaluated.” Anderson has worked for the department for the past eight years.
Anderson claims that on Thursday morning, the investigator, the complaint writer, and the dispatcher for the Erie County Police Department were all let go from their positions. Sheila E. Ayers was identified as the worker whose position was eliminated by the Buffalo News, even though the individual responsible for the firing did not identify her by name.
On May 14, the day that it is thought that 18-year-old Payton Gendron opened fire at the store, Latisha Rogers, an assistant office manager at Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue, was the one who contacted 911. Ayers, who is 54 years old, picked up the phone when it rang. Rogers informed the news media that the dispatcher reprimanded her for whispering into her mobile phone as she was hiding behind the customer service desk of the business when she called 911 after hearing gunshots. Rogers was hiding behind the desk when she made the call. Rogers reported that she had just heard gunshots and was dialing 911 at the time.
