911 Operator: 'I Don't Give a Shit'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- When you call 911 you hope you're talking to someone who cares about what happens to you.

But an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation uncovered a shocking 911 emergency where the exact opposite happened.

NewsChannel 5's chief investigative reporter Phil Williams said the system failed when a Nashville woman faced a violent domestic situation back in February.

"I'm like looking out the window for him, and I don't see him," Sheila Jones recalled.

Her call for help began when an angry ex-boyfriend barged into her house.

Sheila's first call was recorded at Metro Nashville's 911 Center at 2:08 p.m.

Sheila to 911: "Get the police here now. My life is threatened. Please God. Please God. Please God. Get me police over now. He's got a knife on me. My life threatened."

Sheila's 911 ordeal dragged on for almost three hours - through call after call.

Sheila: "They just keep on saying they en route, they en route, but they ain't came. It's been a long time. And he keeps calling me, threatening me."

"I got one call that said they were en route to you and a more important call came up so they diverted to that call," Sheila remembered.

"I'm saying a knife, my life. I'm wondering what kind of call they got. Was somebody actually dead then or something?"

So where was the officer? NewsChannel 5's investigation discovered he was out helping another officer on a traffic stop.

Two-and-half-hours into the ordeal Sheila called again. This time, she was told there was no one assigned to answer her call.

Sheila: "Nobody's coming out here?"

911: "Yes, ma'am. As soon as the sergeant gets an officer available, he's gonna send somebody out there."

Sheila: "What, do y'all want him to kill me - so you can put yellow tape around me and say we got there just for the death? Is that it? I don't understand."

"It felt like I was a test subject. We're going to see how long it takes before he goes back and actually kills her - that's what I felt like," Sheila said.

The worse part was what Sheila had not heard. The worst part was what the 911 call taker said after Sheila hung up the phone.

911: "I really just don't give a s**t what happens to you."

"What kind of people have they got answering these phones?" Sheila asked. "He actually said that?"

"He actually said that," Phil assured her.

"You know, right now I'm scared as hell because if anything happened to me now, I can't even depend upon them. Who do I... who do I... what do I do?"

In the end Sheila called the mayor's office, and it was only then that police answered her call for help.

As for the operator who made the shocking comment, Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas said, "The employee is no longer with us."

MORE...

911 Officials Say No Excuse for Response