A Columbus, Ohio 911 dispatcher is coming under fire for the brusque way she handled a phone call from a woman who said she had been raped.
According to WSYX, the woman called 911 around 4 a.m. Sunday to report that a man had entered a house filled with sorority members near Ohio State University. She said the man assaulted her and held a gun to her head, then stole an iPhone and cash before fleeing.
The woman provided a description of the attacker, to which the dispatcher responded, "Ma'am, you’re going to have to quit crying so I can get the information from you." Later, the dispatcher said, "They're not going to be able to find him with the information you've given." Upset, the woman replied, "Don't you understand how horrified I am? ... I don't know what you deal with every day, but the kind of sympathy you have is zero."
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Police ended up charging 30-year-old Michael Callaghan with rape and burglary in connection with the attack. A 911 supervisor told WSYX that the dispatcher could have been more empathetic, but the operator's main objective is to get information from the victim. The call will be reviewed with the dispatcher, but she will not be reprimanded. Listen to the 911 call in the video below. --Catherine Garcia
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