First Parkland 911 Calls Released: ‘I Think There’s a Shooter’

The first 911 calls from the deadly Parkland school shooting have been released, showing the confusion among emergency dispatchers as Nikolas Cruz carried out the massacre that killed 17 people. On the first 911 call, obtained by the Sun-Sentinel, gunfire can be heard in the background as an unidentified girl says: “Hello, we’re at Stoneman Douglas High School, and I think there’s a shooter.” Audio of calls between authorities as they attempted to coordinate their response to the shootings paints a scene of confusion. The recordings show that one sheriff’s operator appeared to not know what city Marjory Stoneman Douglas High was in, and many minutes after the initial call, another dispatcher seemed not to know which school was being discussed. “I just got a call from Douglas High School. Um, a female on the line who said she believes there’s a shooter at the school,” Coral Springs emergency dispatch supervisor Patrick Thurman told the Sheriff’s Office. “OK at Douglas High School? In what city?” the dispatcher asked.