COLUMBUS, Ind. — A dispatcher’s training and quick actions may have saved a life in Bartholomew County Monday.
Dispatcher Dylan Prather received a 9-1-1 call around 4 a.m. and the first words he heard were “put the gun away” before being unable to speak with the caller on the phone again.
Knowing the caller could not verbally communicate, Prather was able to reach the victim by text messaging.
Prather also used the cell phone for GPS purposes to establish a location for first responders. He relayed information from text messages with the victim to responding officers.
“I am very proud of the men and women working at our Operations Center who continue to show why Indiana is one of the top users of the text to 911 systems in the country,” said Ed Reuter, Director of the Bartholomew County Emergency Operations 911 Center.
The call led to the arrest of Joshua M. Hehmen, 32, of Elizabethtown, on a charge of domestic battery in the presence of a minor.
Bartholomew County has offered the text 911 feature since 2014.
