911 dispatchers reflect on Midtown shooting
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The emergency workers who picked up those terrifying 911 calls as shots rang out in Midtown quickly put first responders on the move to the shooting scene.
“Someone has to do it, said Senior Dispatcher Brenda Ross-Byrom. “This job is not for everyone, but someone has to do it.”
Ross-Byrom says it’s their job to stay calm through some of the most trying times and help callers stay calm.
Atlanta’s 911 Call Center reports they received more than 1,800 calls from the time of the shooting to the time the alleged gunman was captured.
Ross-Byrom says she took the second call that came in related to the shooting.
At one point she says she stayed on the phone for over an hour with a woman on the 11th floor, the same floor where the shooting reportedly took place.
In her 23 years of experience, Ross-Byrom says she’s heard and seen a lot.
“I was calm, I was used to it, but I’ve never had an active shooter, that was real different but I just wanted them to know that they were going to be okay, I was going to get help to them, and I was going to stay on the line until they got there,” she said.
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