Woman Shoots Intruder, Dispatcher On the Line

Lincoln County (Okla.) sheriff’s dispatcher Brenda Hart handled the 911 call of a lifetime when she picked up the phone, ringing in from a woman several miles outside the town of Cushing, and reporting that someone was trying to smash her back patio glass door with a chair. Resident Donna Jackson armed herself with a shotgun, and over the next 10 minutes described the man in the darkness, yelling, screaming and trying to break through the door. Jackson was ready to shoot the man if he entered and, in fact, Hart told her she would be justified if the man came inside. When the glass did break, and the man came inside, Jackson fire her 16-guage shotgun, fatally wounding the man. And then, for nearly another 15 minutes, Hart kept Jackson on the line until sheriff’s deputies arrived. At the end of the long call, Jackson’s son, a tribal police chief, is conferenced into the call for an emotional moment with his mother, and to reassure her that she did the right thing. The county district attorney has ruled Jackson acted legally in shooting the man, and no charges will be filed. Read more about the incident here. Update: Read a story and watch a video about Hart and co-worker Joan Herd here. [Editor – The call is over 32 minutes long, but I recommend that you listen straight through to share Hart’s experience in handling the tense, dramatic and emotional call. The incident and the call is an excellent example of how 911 is the only lifeline for millions of people, and that the role of a dispatcher extends way beyond just gathering information and talking—it’s about connecting and helping.]

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Donna Jackson lives several miles south of the town of Cushing, and deputies were 21 minutes away when the incident occurred. Roads in the area form 1-mile by 1-mile squares.
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