Police released emotional 911 audio recordings and radio traffic calls from Sunday’s Greenwood Park Mall mass shooting, the first release of audio from the day of the shooting.
The recordings from shooting at the mall that left four dead, including the shooter, and two injured, show not only how chaotic and traumatic that day was, but also how first responders responded to the shooting. These recordings are the only planned release of audio and video from the shooting.
Greenwood police do not plan to release the surveillance video and body-worn camera videos to respect the dignity of the deceased and the privacy of their survivors. The videos contain graphic images, said Jim Ison, police chief.
The Johnson County 911 Dispatch Center in Franklin received about 98 calls during a 30-minute period from 5:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday’s are normally a slow day for calls, Johnson County 911 Director Heath Brant told the Daily Journal Wednesday. During the same time period a week prior, there were three total 911 calls made.
Sixty-five of the 98 calls received during the 5:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. period Sunday were answered by Johnson County dispatchers, while 33 calls were automatically rolled over to Bartholomew County dispatchers. With the way the 911 system is set up, calls automatically roll over if Johnson County dispatchers are unable to answer in time, Brant said.
“(The system) worked exactly the way it’s supposed to,” he said.
This is believed to be the first time that a “rollover” of 911 calls occurred automatically between Johnson and Bartholomew counties. About 50 calls came into Bartholomew County dispatch from Johnson County, the majority from individuals either inside the mall or those who had left the mall and were then reporting from outside, Bartholomew County 911 Emergency Operations Center Director Todd Noblitt told The (Columbus) Republic, the Daily Journal’s sister paper, on Tuesday.
In recordings released by Greenwood Police on Wednesday, many of the calls on the recordings were calls that were transferred from Bartholomew to Johnson County. Callers were asked by dispatchers if they were safe and to either run, hide or get somewhere safe. Dispatchers also told 911 callers that they were trying to transfer them to Johnson County, where dispatchers there were already overwhelmed with calls.
In one call, a young female, who is heard crying, tells a Johnson County 911 dispatcher that she saw the shooter in the food court. She gives the dispatcher a description of who she thought was the shooter, and, while still crying, says “he still might be here.” The dispatcher tells her that first responders are on the way.
“I’ve got people on the way, OK. I’ve got them on the way,” the dispatcher said.
In a separate call, a mother calls 911 saying her daughter had called and told her she was shot. The dispatcher tells the mother that officers are already on the scene. The mother then tells the dispatcher she is driving into the mall parking lot with her son and asks what she should do.
The dispatcher tells her to stay in the vehicle, lock the doors and turn on her flashers and wait for officers. She says, emotionally, “I need my daughter.” The dispatcher tells her that running inside the mall wouldn’t help her daughter, but could make things worse.
Later, after giving the dispatcher a description of her vehicle, he tells her first responders are taking care of the situation inside the mall.
“I’m here to go wherever we need to go, just take care of my baby please,” the mother said.
In one 911 call to a Bartholomew County dispatcher, a man, whose name is inaudible, frantically asks for 911 dispatchers to send additional fire personnel to the mall. “We have people down in the food court area,” the man says.
In another, a woman frantically says, “There’s a shooting. There’s a shooting. Get here fast. Please send people here.”
In another call, a woman asks dispatchers what to do, saying she’s in a storage room. The dispatcher replies that she is trying to get the call transferred to Johnson County, and tells the woman that they have heard multiple calls about the shooting.
“There’s officers on the way,” the dispatcher says.
“Please, please help us. Thank you,” the woman replies.
A woman who was hiding in Old Navy told 911 dispatchers she was in the store when everyone started running after shots were fired. Old Navy is located near the mall’s food court, where the shooting took place.
The woman then tells the dispatcher she is hiding in the back of Old Navy, and the dispatcher tells her to stay in a safe place.
In another call, when a dispatcher asks where the caller is, people are heard screaming in the background. A woman says that she’s lost her purse and that she can’t breathe. She then breaks down in tears, and the dispatcher tells her they are trying to get help to her as soon as they can. The audio then cuts off as the call is transferred.
Radio traffic from Johnson County’s north police radio traffic district in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s was also released Wednesday. The first hour of recording begins with a dispatcher telling radio cars that a person has been shot at the mall.
Seconds later, an officer says multiple people are running through the parking lot. A dispatcher then says, “They’re advising there’s a male shooter. He’s possibly in the food court at this time.”
A short moment later, a public safety official confirms it’s an active shooter. The dispatcher then says there were possibly three people shot.
Moments later, an officer comes over the radio saying officers have the shooter, and that he’s on the floor near the food court bathrooms. Later, officers ask for backup, and officials say both Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office units are on the way.
The recording continues with officers detailing their actions as they responded to the shooting, and later clearing the building. Near the end of the recording, an officer says they are clearing Macy’s and evacuating civilians.
At the time calls began to come in about the shooting on Sunday, the Johnson County 911 Dispatch Center had just completed a shift change. There were seven dispatchers on duty when the word of an active shooter came in, and a trainee was also working, Brant told the Daily Journal Wednesday.
The dispatchers working on Sunday did a fantastic job as they worked on answering calls during the shooting. While officials can train all day long, there is no way to be truly prepared for dealing with an incident like this, he said.
Brant is proud of how they handled the situation. Dispatchers work a stressful job, he said.
“Our dispatchers, you couldn’t find a higher level. They did a fantastic job as far as I’m concerned,” Brant said.
The (Columbus) Republic and Daily Journal Multimedia News Editor Emily Ketterer contributed to this report.
