911 Dispatchers Describe The Creepiest Call They've Ever Had
911 dispatchers have a tough job. They're constantly faced with the pressure to send help to people in need while also keeping the affected person or witness to a tragedy calm while police, paramedics, and other first responders race to the scene. Not only this, but dispatchers also sometimes have to hear terrible acts happening in real time, which can certainly take a psychological toll.
A group of 911 dispatchers shared their creepiest and most unforgettable phone calls on Reddit. Here's a collection of some of the more outstanding tales.
Man Shoots His Wife, Himself
From Redditor /u/Sheqaq:
"Guy shot his wife and after he found her cheating. He was hysterical and scared sh*tless about what he had just done. He put the phone down and there was another gunshot. He killed himself, and I heard it. His wife was still alive and she was screaming that she forgave him over and over and that they were gonna get through it. It was f*cked."
Attack With Baseball Bats
From Redditor /u/MyShamefulSh*t:
"I had one person call in screaming about a guy getting beat to death in her front yard, with the sounds of aluminum bats ringing in the background."
Haunting Mother-Son Story
From Redditor /u/Kaselehlie:
"Had to help a maybe 12-year-old boy start CPR on his mother who attempted suicide on July 4th some years back. She died. That's never left me."
The Calm Man On The Edge
From a Redditor:
"Got a call from a guy saying he was sitting in his car with a shotgun and was going to kill himself. He seemed very calm and I could tell in his voice that he had made up his mind and this wasn't a cry for help like most of the other suicide calls I receive. He told me he was at one of our train stations but wouldn't tell me which one so while I had officers out looking for him I made small talk with him about his family and sports, I even had him laugh a few times.
After about 10 minutes of talking and me thinking I've made progress he finally says, 'well it's been nice talking to you but I gotta get going' he then proceeded to put the gun in his mouth and pull the trigger. I heard his death gurgles."
Three Nightmare Stories
From Redditor /u/Hashtaglibertarian:
"I've had a lot of messed up calls as a 911 operator. The one I had this lady was screaming. Just horrific screaming. Then the phone went dead. I called back only to hear that horrific screaming again. Then I heard someone in the background screaming 'he's stabbing her he's stabbing her!' She died. He did get caught by an officer I had dispatched - she literally jumped off a car roof and landed on top of the guy. Not sure what his sentence was.
I had another guy who drowned his 2-year old son. That f*cked me up for a while because I was pregnant with my son at the time. I kept thinking how unfair that some child could be so terrified as the one person he trusted and loved was harming him. Not only that but when you drown you're conscious to the end. I still cry for that little boy some days.
I had another man who was changing the oil in his SUV. Long story short, the SUV fell on him and he died before help got there. There were a lot of calls like that - where you're the last person to ever talk to someone. I knew as soon as I heard his breaths go agonal he was done. It was so hard to accept that the gd ambulance in his township was WASTED on some bullsh*t call (back pain for the past month) and the next ambulance nearby was 25 f*cking minutes away. That a**hole wasted an ambulance and someone probably died for it."
The Vanishing Man
From a Redditor:
"A year into the job in a pretty large town with woods all around. Got a call from a young man, identified himself as 21. Said he went on a hike with his best friend, this is where it got weird. I asked for his location and it was ~50 miles from the nearest trailhead, but not in the direction the trails move. I asked him to tell me what the problem was and what services he needed when he burst into tears, saying one moment his friend was in front of him, and the next he was gone. Dispatched Sheriff and was told neither man was ever found. Still freaks me out."