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The 911 Operator Who Told Caller To 'Deal With It' Has Resigned

by Eitan Levine

An Albuquerque Fire Department dispatcher resigned his post after a recording of a call in which he told a woman who witnessed a shooting to “deal with it” herself was released.

On June 26, an unidentified woman called 911 to report 17-year-old Jaydon Chavez-Silver had been seriously injured during a drive-by shooting while attending a party.

The woman, who sounded to be trying to keep Chavez-Silver alive during the call, was connected with dispatcher Matthew Sanchez.

In a portion of the 911 call, which was released to KRQE, you can hear Sanchez get angry with the frantic woman and then tell her to “deal with it yourself” before hanging up the phone.

New Mexico Fire Department officials told reporters parts of the conversation were edited out to "protect patient privacy."

Jaydon later died at the hospital.

On Monday, Sanchez was said to have been reassigned, but the department since released a statement on his decision to resign completely.

Jaydon's parents acknowledged the lack of professionalism the dispatcher had during the call but are choosing instead to focus on catching the people responsible for the shooting.

Dan Sparago, a spokesperson for the family, said,

They have complete confidence in the Albuquerque Police Department and they're sure that the detectives are doing all they can to find the people who did this.

There have been no arrests in the shooting.

Citations: Dispatcher resigns after telling 911 caller Deal with it yourself (CBS News)