Parents Sue 911 Dispatcher Who Hung Up as Son Was Dying

The parents of a 17-year-old who was killed in a drive-by shooting are suing the firefighter who hung up on his friend when she called 911 for help, Courthouse News reports. Jaydon Chavez-Silver was at a party in Albuquerque when he was shot in the chest in 2015; Esperanza Quintero, then also 17, started CPR and called 911. She was connected to medical dispatcher and firefighter Matthew Sanchez; in the recording of the call, she can be heard answering Sanchez's questions while telling Chavez-Silver, "stay with me." Sanchez asked her twice whether the teen was breathing; the second time, Quintero responded, "He’s barely breathing. How many times do I have to f---ing tell you?" Sanchez replied, "OK, you know what ma’am? You could deal with it yourself. I’m not gonna deal with this, OK?" and hung up as Quintero was saying, "No, my friend is dying..."

Ronald Silver and Nicole Chavez are suing Sanchez—they say he intentionally abandoned a patient while he was supposed to be doing his job, robbing their son of "his last clear chance to be kept alive." They accuse Sanchez, who was placed on administrative leave after Chavez-Silver's death and ultimately resigned, of medical negligence and wrongful death. KOB reported last year that Sanchez, whose EMS license was suspended after the incident, had gone on to become a county fire cadet. It's not clear what he's doing now. Per police, Chavez-Silver was not the intended target of the shooting. (More 911 call stories.)