In 2005 the city of New York released logging tapes of the various radio channels and selected 911 calls made on Sept. 11, 2001. The entire collection is available here in mp3 format, which you can download, burn to a CD and use for training.
- North Hollywood bank robbery – The unforgettable collection of radio logging tapes from the 1997 violent robbery of the Bank of America in Los Angeles. The radio traffic begins routinely, then an officer passing the bank notices the robbers and radios in “shots fired.” Then all breaks loose.
- Detroit Child’s 911 Call – audio – In Feb. 2006 5 year-old Robert Turner called to say his mother was unconscious. However, dispatcher Sharon Nicols believed it was a prank call. Nicols and another dispatcher were later fired, and Nicols was charged with criminal neglect of duty. She was later convicted, but granted probation. Also isten to the second 911 call, and watch a video from MSNBC with Turner’s attorney and a representative of the Detroit dispatchers’ union.
- Sept. 11th Fire Tapes
- Sept. 11th Fire Tapes #2
- Sept. 11th Tape Archive
- Wheel of Fortune! – fun video clip from the quiz show
- Wacky 911 CDs
- Girl’s Murder 911 Call – the 911 call of a lifetime. Volusia County (Fla.) dispatcher Donna Choufani talks to 5 year-old Tia Hernlen, who calmly reports her two parents shot to death. Also check this page of information.
- ‘Shoot Her?’ 911 call – caller reports her daughter is creating a disturbance at home, and the dispatcher makes an inappropriate comment
- Snowstorm 911 Call – a couple under the influence of drugs dialed 911 after their truck ran into a snowdrift outside Omaha (Neb.) in Jan. 2005. Janelle Hornickel and Michael Wamsley were disoriented and couldn’t give their location. Their bodies were found days later in the snow.
- 911 Call for a Date – Lorna Jeanne Dudash in Aloha (Ore.) dialed 911 to ask for the name of a “cute” Washington County sheriff’s deputy she had just encountered. The deputy returned to her house and arrested her.
- Murder 911 Call – In June 1996 two children were stabbed to death in their home in Rowlett (Tex.), and their mother Darlie Routier was later arrested for their murder. A jury later did not believe that an intruder killed the children and seriously injured Routier, and she was convicted. The case is now on appeal.
- Jon Benet 911 Call – the original 911 call from the Benet home reporting that the child was missing
- Columbine Incident CDs – source of tapes made during the Columbine (Colo.) High School shootings
- Murder 911 call – Wash. – In Jan. 2007 a Vancouver (Wash.) man called to confess killing two persons with a knife. Dylon R. Peterson was arrested by arriving police.
- Murder 911 Call – SC – In May, 2006 a Clemson college student was found strangeled to death in her apartment, and a student calls to report finding her body.
- Maryland fire 911 – In Jan. 2007 five residents in Abingdon (Md.) died in a house fire, reported by several 911 calls. There was some criticism that the Harford County comm center took several minutes to dispatch fire units, but officials said an uncertain address only delayed units by seconds.
- Baby not breathing – In Feb. 2007 a San Antonio (Tex.) family noticed their infant was not breathing and dialed 911. The call was promptly answered at the police department, but the dispatcher then transferred the call to the EMS comm center, where a recording played for 4 minutes.
- Crash 911 Call – Colo. – In Feb. 2007 several teens stopped on a rural road and were rear-ended by another car, seriously injuring several of the teens. They dialed 911 for help and reached the Loveland Police Department, but there was confusion about their location. They had difficulty trying to describe their location. Read more here.
- Fire rescue 911 call-Md. – On February 3, 2007 firefighters rescued 5 children from a house fire at 9819 Connecticut Avenue, in Kensington (Montgomery County, Md.). Two 17 month-old girls (twins) were hospitalized in critical condition. A 12 year-old girl, 7 year-old boy, a 3 year-old girl and the twins were rescued from the second floor. The twins were found unconscious. The fire started on the first floor and the smoke alarm did activate. The oldest child, age 12 called 911 and was very composed as the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) dispatcher provided instructions.
- Carwash 911 – Mich. – In March 2007 Monica Hudson dialed 911 when she became trapped inside an automated car wash building on 24th St. in Port Huron (Mich.) when the machinery stalled. The dispatcher talked to her for several minutes. Finally another patron came through, pushed some buttons and the doors came open.
- Adam-12 Opening – gotta love this one!
- FCC 1st Resp Summit
- Kansas City Shooting #1 -
- Kansas City Shooting #2 -
- Oakland tanker fire 911 – In Jan. 2007 a tanker traveling through an Interstate highway interchange in Oakland (Calif.) overturned, setting a fire that melted an overpass that cut a key highway link in the Bay area. Many people dialed 911 to report the 8,000 gallon gasoline tanker crash and fire. The driver was badly burned, and ended up walking over a mile to a convenience store where a cab driver realized her was injured and drove him to a hospital.
- Wisc. Nanny 911 call -
- Officer’s MJ call – Mich. – off-duty officer calls to report he and his wife might have ingested marijuana brownies, and he sounds toasted
- Leno’s wacky 911
- Columbus drowning 911 – The Spanish-speaking parents of a 4 year-old girl who fell into a pool dialed 911 in Columbus (Ohio), but had trouble explaining what had happened and where they were. It took 2 minutes to conference in an interpreter.
- Courthouse shooting – In May 2007 a gunman opened fire on the Latah County (Idaho) Courthouse at night, where several dispatchers were working. Residents dialed 911 to report it to the dispatchers who were themselves under fire. A Moscow city police officer was killed by the gunfire and a deputy was wounded. The suspect Paul Bauer killed himself in a nearby church. Read more here.
- River Phoenix 911 call – In Oct. 1993 actor River Phoenix collapsed outside a Hollywood (Calif.) nightclub, prompting a 911 call for help. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, later determined to be a drug overdose.
- Wheelchair ride – Mich. – In June 2007 caller in Paw Paw (Mich.) reported that a man in a wheelchair, Ben Carpenter, had been struck by an 18-wheel truck while crossing the street, and was was now stuck to the front of the truck and being dragged down the street. Read more here.
- Festival crash – DC – In June 2007 a woman allegedly on drugs drove through a Anacostia district Washington (DC) weekend street festival, injuring dozens of pedestrians. Callers dialed 911 when Tonya Bell drove through a barricade and into the crowded street at up to 70 mph. Police finally stopped her cara by throwing two motorscooters under her car.
- LA hospital 911 calls – caller from a hospital emergency room dials 911 to report a medical problem, later dies
- Murder-suicide – Wisc. – In June 2007 23 year-old Amborsio Analco shot and killed six persons–including his own small children–inside a Delavan (Wisc.) duplex, and then killed himself.
- Stabbing 911 – In June 2007 a neighbor came to Barry James’ house in Fairfield (Conn.) and stabbed him to death, apparently in retaliation. James’ father dialed 911 to report the incident, along with several neighbors. Read more here.
- Murder 911 – In August 2006 a woman dialed 911 when she heard screaming on the other end of the phone while talking to her boss, Paul Duncsak, and then the line went dead. Police arrived at Duncsak’s Ramsey (NJ) home to find him dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Read more here.
- Rapist Surrenders – Penn.
- Citizen on Radio – NH – On May 10, 2007 Franconia (NH) Cpl. Bruce McKay pulled over a car for a traffic violation, and then became involved in a shoot-out with the suspect. McKay was mortally wounded, but a citizen picked up a loose gun and killed the suspect, and then used McKay’s car radio to call for help. Read more here.
- Tornado dispatchers – Kan.
- Pool save – Colo.
- Stabbing attack 911 – In May 2007 a Tamarac (Fla.) woman dialed 911 to say her ex-boyfriend was pounding on the door. Before Broward County deputies arrived, the ex-boyfriend, Mario Cruz, threw a barbeque through a patio door, came inside and stabbed Maria Borrero and her then-boyfriend. As a deputy arrived, Cruz approached the deputy with a knife, and was shot and killed.
- Deputy shooting – In June 2007 two Floyd County (Ind.) deputies were shot by a 15 year-old, later identified as Tyler Dumstorf. One deputy died and the other was seriously wounded when they responded to a domestic violence call at the boy’s home. Tape of the radio transmissions captures one deputy calling for help after being shot by a rifle fired by Dumstorf from inside the house.
- OnStar Command Center
- Non-emerg 911’s – A collection of non-emergency calls made to 911.
- Murder 911 call – In July 2007 a Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) father dialed 911 to report that an 18 year-old girl was dead in his son’s room from an overdose. Amanda Buckley was later found to have been strangled and bound with duct tape, and the caller’s 26 year-old son Jason Shenfeld was arrested for murder.
- Pellet gun shooting – Wisc. – In July, 2007 Madison (Wisc.) resident Ronald Brandon called to report an armed man outside his house, but described himself to a Dane County dispatcher. A Madison PD officer arrived to see Brandon holding a gun, and fatally shot him. The gun turned out to be a pellet gun, and police believe Brandon made the call as a suicide attempt. The shooting was captured on a second 911 from Brandon’s wife to Dane County dispatcher Crystal Daley, who explained the “gun” was a pellet gun. Unfortunately, by the time that information was radioed to officers, Brandon had been shot.
- 911 from closet – Fla. – In July 2007 11 year-old Rayshaun Wagner called 911 from a closet at his Jacksonville (Fla.) home to report that someone was breaking into his home. Wagner set off the home’s burglar alarm manually, then grabbed his 5 year-old brother and hid in a closet as he talked to sheriff’s dispatcher Sydney McClurkin. The call captures the police arriving. Read more here.
- Baby Delivery 911 – Tex.
- Bridge collapse- Calls made after the I-35 highway bridge collapsed on Aug. 1, 2007 in Minneapolis (Minn.).
- Double murder – Ken. – In Sept. 2007 a 9 year-old in Rineyville (Ken.) dialed 911 to report his mother and former mother-in-law had been shot to death by an intruder. The dispatcher is at first skeptical, but then kicks into gear.
- Child abduction (Ohio) – In 2005 a Cincinnati (Ohio) mother dialed 911 to report her child had been abducted by the child’s mother. The father allegedly had mental problems, and later killed the child. The dispatcher told the mother to return home and not to follow the father. The mother is now suing CPD.
- Boat rescue #1 – Minn.
- Boat rescue #2 – Minn.
- Missing baby – In October 2007 Mary Creech dialed 911 in Spring Lake (NC) to report that her 11 month-old granddaughter was missing from her crib. Harnett County deputies arrived and searched the house and area, but had no leads. Several days later they discovered the baby’s body in the attic, and arrested the mother, who claimed the child died naturally.
- Burglary+shotgun – Tex. – In November 2007 Pasadena (Tex.) resident Joe Horn saw two men enter his next-door neighbor’s house. He dialed 911 and, despite the dispatcher’s advice, armed himself with a shotgun, confronted the two men as they left the houses, and shot and killed both of them. A grand jury later declined to indict Horn on any charges.
- CPR by phone – Tenn. – On November 24, 2007 a woman in Morristown (Tenn.) dialed 911 to report that a 16 year-old boy, Jordan Kaleb Shelton, wasn’t breathing. A Hamblen County dispatcher gave the caller CPR instructions as EMS units were enroute. The boy’s foster father, Kenneth Taylor, was later arrested and charged with choking the youth.
- Mall Shooting – In Dec. 2007 Robert Hawkins entered the Westroads Mall in Omaha (Neb.) and killed either persons before killing himself. There were many 911 callers reporting the shooting. Listen to the various calls: #1 / #2 / #3 / #4
- Man With Gun – In November 2007 Debbie Gabelman called 911 from her Spring Hill (Fla.) home to report that her son Kyle Gabelman, 25, had a gun and was outside the house threatening the family. The son tried to get inside the house, at one point breaking in a back window. When Kyle went to the front door with the gun, two Hernando County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed him. Read more here.
- Teen car shooting – Colo.
- Garage collapse – Fla. – In Dec. 2007 a parking garage collapsed in Jacksonville (Fla.), generating several 911 calls
- Post Surgery 911 – Calif. – mother of singer Kanye West suffers a post-surgery problem, and friends dial 911 for help
- Taxi murders – Tex. – In Jan. 2008 an Irving (Tex.) hotel employee called to report finding two dead persons in a taxi.
- DUI 911 Caller – Wisc. -
- Midair plane crash – Calif. – calls made after two small Cessna airplanes collide in mid-air over Corona, S. Calif.
- Trapped under car – Penn. – man dials 911 after becoming trapped under a car at an auto parts junkyard
- Kidnap 911 – Tex. – mother reports her infant child was just grabbed and taken away; police later determined the kidnappers took the child as leverage for an unpaid loan. There was criticism of the dispatcher’s handling of the call.
- Pre-murder 911 – Calif.
- Suspect run over – NC
- Accidental shooting – Fla.
- Welfare check 911 – Conn.
- Rocket launcher call – Surprise, Ariz. – An El Mirage resident dials 911 to report finding a rocket launcher, but the dispatcher tells him to call his local police department on non-emergency line
- Kidnap 911 – Calif.
- Diabetes death 911 – Wisc.