'Deal with it yourself': Dispatcher Hung Up On Woman Giving First Aid to Shooting Victim

Claire.Lejeune | July 29, 2015
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An Albuquerque Fire Department dispatcher is on administrative leave after he told a female who witnessed her friend get shot to “deal with it” herself.

Jaydon Chavez-Silver, 17, was reportedly at a party when he was shot during a drive-by shooting on June 26.

One of his terrified friends called 911 for help and was connected to 10-year New Mexico department veteran Matthew Sanchez.

In the call, you can hear Sanchez repeatedly ask the unidentified woman if Jaydon is still breathing.

The clearly shaken woman, who was seemingly trying to keep Chavez-Silver awake during the call, got annoyed at Sanchez’s line of questions and yelled back at him,

How many times do I have to f*cking tell you?

Sanchez replied,

OK, you know what ma’am? You can deal with it yourself. I’m not going to deal with this.

“No, my friend is dying, I need …” the desperate caller begs. But the call cuts out.

The fire department did say that emergency services were dispatched to the home, along Nakomis NE, before the call ended. But Jaydon, who witnesses said was an innocent bystander, did not survive.

No arrest has been made in the crime. 

Sanchez has been with the fire department for 10 years and has spent three years working in the dispatch center, a fire department spokeswoman told BuzzFeed News.

Sanchez has been with the fire department for 10 years and has spent three years working in the dispatch center, a fire department spokeswoman told BuzzFeed News.

Chief David Downey released a statement to BuzzFeed News on Monday, announcing that Sanchez had been pla

A spokesperson for the family, Dan Sparago, told KRQE they were heartbroken by the dispatcher’s behavior on the call.

“They’re beyond belief about what happened,” he said. “But at the same time they want to focus on [catching] the people who did this.”

ced on “administrative assignment”:

“After learning of the alleged misconduct, driver Matthew Sanchez was immediately removed from the dispatch center and placed on administrative assignment. An internal investigation has been initiated. As the chief of the department, I am taking the allegation very seriously.”

A spokesperson for the family, Dan Sparago, told KRQE they were heartbroken by the dispatcher’s behavior on the call. “They’re beyond belief about what has happened,” he said. “But at the same time they want to focus on [catching] the people who did this.”

On a Facebook memorial page set up for the slain teenager, Chavez-Silver’s family wrote “this is truly the hardest thing we have ever had to live through.”

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