DETROIT - A 5-year-old boy called 911 to report that his mother had collapsed in their apartment, but an operator told him he should not be playing on the phone, and she died before help arrived.

The family of Sherrill Turner, 46, does not know whether a swifter response could have saved her life, but relatives want to know why the operator apparently treated the call as if it were a prank. Police said the 911 response was under investigation.

Turner's son, Robert, placed two calls to 911 after his mother collapsed Feb. 20 on the kitchen floor. During one of the calls, an operator said: "You shouldn't be playing on the phone."

In a tape of the call, parts of which were broadcast by Detroit-area television stations, the operator said: "Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble."

In an audio of the tape played on TV, some of what the boy says is unintelligible.

Delaina Patterson, the eldest of Turner's 10 children, said police did not arrive until three hours later. She said only Robert and his mother were home at the time.

Detroit police spokesman James Tate said it was at least an hour before authorities arrived, but he said he did not have details. By that time, the boy's mother had died, he said.

"The operator may have believed he was playing on the phone," Tate said.

The 911 operator remains on the job amid the investigation, Tate said.
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Dude... that 5 year old is smart as balls knowing to call 911.
stupid police, you should be taking everything seriously, even if its from a young kid

I've had this problem more than once. Whenever I call 911, they almost always have this skeptical attitude like every call they're getting is a prank. It's fucked up. My mom called once because the light was screwed up; it was saying green on both sides continuously. When she called them, the woman said, "That intersection doesn't exist. Stop trying to pull pranks; it takes time away from real emergencies." My mom was really fucking pissed. I mean, com'on. We were staring at the street sign. There were already almost several accidents, and there weren't any police on-scene to direct traffic. I've yet to have a good experience with a 911 call (I've had to make a few due to various circumstances).

It's stupid. I feel bad for this kid, and it's fucked up that this incompetent bastard is still on the job. I hope that woman's family sues the shit out of them.

bump

wow....WOW....The police r so stupid u take every call seriously no matter WHAT

>>5 It was one person, not all police. In my town, when the 911 phone rings, everyone shuts up, stops moving, and nobody makes a sound until the call is over. So not all police are idiots, just some.

(I know because I've been back there when it happened several times).

>>5 I'm with you all the way! That dumbass of an operator should've just taken the risk of "waisting" the police's time and had them come over there!

Those who don't take this stuff seriously deserved to be fired.

Wow, the kid calls twice and they still don't take it seriously? It's better to respond to a fake call than to ignore a real one. I hope the family takes them to court and gets a reasonable amount of money.

That's so sad! I feel bad for her son. The stupid operator should have sent someone there!!! Stupid people. -_-

Wow. Though Of course I'm mad and upset at the operator, and sorry for the poor boy...This makes me wonder just how many prank calls the police get. Prank calling the police is not funny, its sick. But even so, I still think the police should take every call seriously.

I really don't like the idea that he's still on the job.

>>12 Welcome to the club =o=

>>12 Me too

@12 me three.

what the f**k is wrong with that 911 person that they send the cops 3 hours later!!!!

O look, more stupidity with cops

Seriously, what did the person think it was, a drill? Who cares if half the calls you get are pranks, there are real emergencies interspaced between them and seriously, don't berate a 5-yr-old just because you think your thinking is superior and thus disregard this. What a douche...

Oh my gosh, this is so sad! My friend's dad is a 911 operator and I know he would never do something like that! I don't know what's wrong with this lady!

if its sopposovly a prank then you still send them, that would scare the shit out of the prankster more then a b***hie woman saying dont prank us. ever hear the joke about someone reporting someone was stealing stuff from his garage currently they said no one was in his area and then he called back saying that he shot them and in a minute 15 cop cars 2 helicopters and swat came in and caught the people. and they said, "i thought you shot them?"
" i thought you said no one was in your area."

>>2 it wasn't the police who were stupid it was just that operator.

This kid is smart but the operator should be punished. If it is a prank, they should go anyways and if it turns out to be one then they should be punished anyways.

Wow that's terrible of the operator... I mean, I know they must get tons of prank calls...

If it's something clearly a prank (without a doubt) then ignore it, but if someone is calling about someone who is sick or dying, I don't care if the operator thinks it "might" be a prank, because they might still be telling the truth, and you can't ignore that. =(

Well...All I can say is: The operator should have at LEAST sent someone to check. Instead of just saying "Oh yeah! Stop playing on the phone!"

That operater is messed up. I feel so bad for the kid.

Dude,that kid is smart.

And why would the operator think it was a prank?I mean,I know people do 911 pranks, but I don't thnk a 5 YEAR OLD BOY would make some kind of joke like that!

The kid did the right thing.I fsel so bad for him!

The operator should have responded to the call..if in the end it was a prank then reprimand the kid's parents..they must first heed to the call of their duty..they should not be jumping into conclusions that easily..

>>26 Shouldn't have to get on to parents just because a kid is a moron, who feels the need to prank. Like I said on another topic. "You can't control kids 100%"

if no one ever does a prank call on 911, this wouldn't happen . .

I remember seeing this a while back. Didnt the kid ev entually try to sue that operator? Or was that a similar case...

I'm sorry that is so not cool...

What? That's terrible! The Operator shouldn't have kept his/her job if they are skeptical about a call, they should act upon it whether it'd be a prank or not! That poor kid. It must have been traumatic to see his mother collapse and die while there was no one to help her.

>>27 If the kid is 5 you would have to get on the parents. At that point you can't do much about the kid doing something wrong other than going to their parents. For an older kid doing a prank call they can probably charge the kid with something.

Something like this happened in my area a few years ago. A 13ish year old kid called 911 saying his mom was having a heart attack, they didn't believe him. This kid called about 5 times, trying to get someone to help his mom, unfortunately, nobody came and the mom ended up dying. This kind of shit makes me sick, I don't care if you think it's a prank call, you send someone out there. If there is a prank then you charge the motherfucker who pranked you, if it's not then you saved someone's life.

This is sad, because I don't necessarily live in that area but near Detroit.

>>18 excactly aren't most kids taught to call if something is wrong