911 Dispatcher Tells Friend of Dying Teen: ‘Deal With It Yourself’

A 911 dispatcher has resigned after telling a teenage caller aiding a dying friend to “deal with it yourself.”

Esperanza Quintero called the emergency number after her friend Jaydon Chavez-Silver, 17, was shot a party in Albuquerque, N.M., the Washington Post reports. But after she swore at dispatcher Matthew Sanchez in a moment of frustration, Sanchez hung up on her and told her she was on her own, though an emergency team had already been dispatched to Quintero’s location by then.

Sanchez was a 10-year veteran of the fire department and had worked as a dispatcher for over three years at the time of the June 26 incident. He was on administrative leave before resigning Tuesday. Albuquerque Fire Chief David Downey says an investigation into the phone call, part of which can be heard below, is underway.

Chavez-Silver, whose killer is still unknown, died at a hospital later. Quintero, who isn’t sure if her friend would have survived had Sanchez stayed on the line, has since apologized to Sanchez for getting upset but wishes he had done more to assist her.

[Washington Post]

Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com.