Have a Bazooka? Just Don’t Pull the Trigger

A man who called the Surprise (Ariz.) police comm center and reported he found a bazooka received erroneous advice from the dispatcher who answered–don’t worry about it. Police are now investigating how the call was handled, and say the dispatcher’s advice was a mistake. After the caller described it as “like the terrorist ones that blow up the planes that you see on TV,” the dispatcher advised him, “OK, that’s only going to blow up if you pull the trigger.” The unnamed dispatcher then told the man to call the El Mirage police non-emergency telephone number. But instead of doing that, the man took the device to the police department headquarters, which prompted a response by an EOD response from nearby Luke Air Force Base. It turns out the bazooka was inert. Surprise police officials said the dispatcher was unaware of the potential danger of a live device, and re-training will occur. Read more about the incident and listen to the telephone call here.