Slaying Prompts 911 Probe : Emergency: A woman whose father was fatally shot blames delays in responding to her call. Sheriff’s officials say the incident was not mishandled, but they are examining procedures.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is reviewing its procedures for handling 911 emergency calls in the wake of a domestic dispute that left a 45-year-old man dead and his 23-year-old daughter wounded, a department spokesman said Saturday.
Cenia Dodson, 23, said she blames her father’s death, in part, on the failure of deputies to respond appropriately to a 911 call she made about 15 minutes before her estranged husband arrived armed and enraged at her family’s Pico Rivera apartment.
“He was on his way over--I told them that,†a crying Dodson said. “I told them that I had a restraining order. What more can they ask for? For somebody to be dead (before they) come? That’s when they came--when somebody was dead.â€
Mario Garcia, 45, was shot to death and Cenia Dodson was wounded in the face and shoulder when Anthony Dodson burst into the apartment with a .357-caliber magnum revolver shortly after 5:30 p.m. last Sunday.
Deputy Larry Mead said that although there is no indication the 911 operator acted improperly, the Sheriff’s Department is reviewing the circumstances of the incident and the department’s policies and procedures for responding to 911 calls.
Particularly, Mead said, the investigation will examine Cenia Dodson’s initial call, during which an operator said that since her husband was not yet at the house, she should call another number because she was “tying up an emergency line.†Cenia Dodson called 911 twice and the Pico Rivera sheriff’s station’s general number once in an attempt to get protection from her husband.
In an audiotape of the initial call, released by the Sheriff’s Department on Friday, Dodson is heard calmly telling the operator that she has a restraining order against her husband. She then says that he is supposed to bring over her children and he has a gun.
As Dodson continues to explain the situation, the operator interrupts to ask if her husband has arrived at her house. When she says no, the operator instructs her to hang up and gives her the non-emergency number of the Pico Rivera sheriff’s station on Passons Boulevard.
“This line is strictly for emergencies,†the operator says.
Mead said he could not provide guidelines on when it is appropriate to refer a caller to the general number. “There is not any indication that (the call) was mishandled,†he said.
But Cenia Dodson said the operator’s response made her angry.
“I don’t have to be screaming and hysterical for somebody to come over. I think that every time you have a restraining order, they should be here,†she said. “All of this should have been avoided.â€
Records show that Dodson called back about one minute later on the regular business line and was put on hold for 32 seconds, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
During that call, she again tells a deputy that her husband is armed and on his way to her apartment with their two children. In the audiotape of the second call, she says she does not know when he will arrive but that a restraining order had been issued ordering him to stay away.
Dodson said Saturday that a judge had issued the restraining order about a month ago because her husband had threatened her repeatedly. The order had prohibited him from approaching her unless he was picking up or dropping off their two children, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
“I want somebody to be here,†she quietly tells the deputy who answered at the station’s general number. “He has threatened to kill me and this time he has a gun.â€
The deputy agreed to send a squad car, and records show that a car was dispatched at 5:22 p.m.--eight minutes after Dodson’s first emergency call.
The patrol car had not arrived when she called the 911 number again at 5:32 p.m. to report that her husband was at the door. As she is giving information to the operator, shots and screams can be heard on the tape. A deputy arrived minutes after the shootings, authorities said.
Mead said the deputy was delayed because he was assisting a “fight-in-progress†call.
After the shootings, Anthony Dodson walked into the Lakewood sheriff’s station, laid a revolver on a table and said he had just killed two people, Mead said. He has been charged with murder and attempted murder and is being held without bail at Men’s Central Jail.
Cenia Dodson was hospitalized until Friday, when she was released to attend her father’s funeral.
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