911 dispatcher hangs up on teen as friend dies

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Wednesday, July 29, 2015
911 dispatcher hangs up on teen as friend dies
Matthew Sanchez resigned after coming under fire for a call in which he allegedly hung up on a caller whose friend was dying. (KOAT)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A 911 dispatcher resigned after allegedly hanging up on a teen who called for help after her friend was fatally shot.

Esperanza Quintero was left wondering what would have happened to Jaydon Chavez-Silver had the 911 call with dispatcher Matthew Sanchez gone differently.

"I don't know if he would have made it or not," Esperanza Quintero said of her friend to ABC affiliate KOAT. "But if he [the dispatcher] had just tried to help, just a little."

Quintero and Chavez-Silver, both 17, were at a party in Albuquerque in late June when someone drove by and opened fire. When her friend was shot, Quintero sprang into action and called 911. But she said she was also panicked.

"I had to stop his bleeding, I had to do CPR to keep him breathing and alive," she said. "I was frantic, I was scared."

On the call, Sanchez can be heard asking Quintero if Chavez-Silver is breathing.

"He's barely breathing," she responds. "How many times do I have to [expletive deleted] tell you?"

It's then that Sanchez ends the call, telling Quintero, "You could deal with yourself. I'm not going to deal with this."

Though officials told KOAT that emergency services were already on the way at that point, Quintero said she couldn't believe the way the call ended.

"I said, 'How could he do that,' and I just dropped my phone," she told KOAT.

Quintero said she doesn't think Sanchez is cut out for the job and that she cannot excuse his actions.

"That's part of their job, to keep you calm," she said.

Still, she had some words of apology for him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I gave you attitude or I got upset with you," she said.

Sanchez, a 10-year veteran of the Albuquerque Fire Department, tendered his resignation Tuesday, KOAT reports.

The family of Chavez-Silver, who was a star athlete at his high school, said they are appalled by the recording but want to focus on finding his killer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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