I haven't read the whole thread, so I don't know if it's been mentioned, but: the 911 dispatcher was an idiot.
The caller was trying to get people to evacuate, and the dispatcher kept telling her to stop, listen and answer questions.
Well, for me it certainly highlights the importance of delegation and focus.
If you've been appointed the 911 caller, then call 911 -
don't take time out to scream at the
Walking Unconscious to GTFO.
Makes you wonder what kind of people were getting screamed at -
glacial-pace emphysema patients, emergent cell-phone videographers,
shoppers asking if they can try on one more coat, ...
(Would this be one of the situations where you'd pull the building fire alarm?
Not because you want a truckload of Jakes to hut hut hut into harm's way -
although it would have been interesting if the perp had brought a bike lock to a fire axe fight -
but because you want to at least save the lives of everyone who can follow a fire alarm).
And the questions just went on and on and on.
When seconds count,
police are just a few dozen computer screens away from being dispatched.
Yeah, I was irritated by the dispatcher's impatience. Seemed like their process was to get all that information before making the dispatch. The one that got me, though, was the operator who didn't know what Burlington was (they don't put "Coat Factory" on the building anymore), was given the location as an intersection via two street names, but because she was hung up on Burlington to begin with, couldn't wrap her head around the notion that she'd just been given the cross streets. Then the same operator dispatched by naming the cross streets! Hard to get good help.
Word.
Mighta been nice if the caller had said "Burlington Department Store"
instead of "Burlington". Although, thank God Burlington, CA is
nearly 600 miles north in Humboldt County.
(
BTW, it just hit me - the Burlington Coat Factory sells 4'x6" paintings? WTF?)
If the chain had been named "Hollywood Coat Factory"
and then changed it's name to just plain "Hollywood",
the perp and girl would still be alive,
because the cops would never have found the place.
Just
wait until there's an active shooter at Facebook HQ,
and everyone is directing the police to "Meta",
or Google, and the nitwits are sending them to "Alphabet".