“Needs To Learn Some Compassion”– Dispatcher Criticized For Sounding Annoyed During Chilling 911 Call Following Idaho Quadruple Homicide

Before we get into it, let’s get this out of the way: 911 dispatchers have an incredibly hard job. They’re talking to people who are upset and often having the worst day of their lives, and they have to quickly get the information they need to analyze the situation and send help. It’s a tough gig, and often a thankless one.

But one dispatcher is coming under fire after the chilling 911 call was released from the quadruple homicide of four Idaho college students.

Chances are you’re already familiar with the case, which happened back in November of 2022 when the four students were found stabbed to death in their off-campus house. The victims in the case were roommates Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, as well as Kaylee Goncalves, their former roommate who had recently moved out of the house but returned for the weekend, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin.

The horrific murders shocked not only the small college town but also the entire country, and in December 2022 police arrested 28-year old Bryan Kohberger, a graduate student at the nearby Washington State University, after his DNA was reportedly found on a knife sheath left at the scene.

Kohberger faces the death penalty in the case, and his trial is currently scheduled for August of this year after several delays. His defense team, led by longtime public defender Anne Taylor, has filed several motions to have evidence excluded from the trial, and has also indicated that they may seek to have the death penalty taken off the table due to Kohberger reportedly having autism.

I’ve been following the case fairly close, and honestly a lot of what the defense has been doing seems to be grasping at straws – although that’s what a good defense attorney does: Try to get as much thrown out as possible before the trial even starts.

But while the discovery process has been going on, the 911 call from the night of the murders was recently released. The call was made by one of the surviving roommates from the King Road house. One of the surviving roommates had previously reported hearing what sounded like a cry coming from Kernodle’s room, and when she opened the door, she reported seeing a man dressed in black with bushy eyebrows and wearing a mask walking down the hallway.

And in the frantic 911 call, the roommate can be heard trying to tell the dispatcher what she saw the night before – but they weren’t interested, instead insisting that the roommate only tell her what’s going on right now.

The phone was passed around to several people after the roommate made the initial call, and the dispatcher became exasperated and demanded that they stop handing the phone off while she tried to gather information.

The roommate tries to tell the dispatcher what’s happening, but seems to have a hard time talking as she’s gasping and frantic, eventually handing the phone off to a neighbor who reports that “one of the roommates is passed out” and that they saw “some man” in their house.

The surviving roommate then gets on the phone and tries to tell the dispatcher what she saw in the early morning hours, but the dispatcher tells them she doesn’t want to hear it. The roommate then apparently goes to the murder scene and tells the dispatcher that “she’s not waking up” as someone in the background can be heard saying Xana’s name.

Throughout the call it sounds like the roommate is hyperventilating and having a hard time composing herself – but the dispatcher is all business and sounds frustrated that she can’t get answers to the questions she’s asking.

“Ok I need someone to stop passing the phone around because I’ve talked to four different people.”

This is the full 911 call from the Bryan Kohberger case — the day University of Idaho students found one of their friends unconscious. pic.twitter.com/K4bvFEbF2T

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) March 14, 2025

Eventually police show up to the scene and the dispatcher ends the call – but folks online weren’t impressed with her demeanor during the incident:

The dispatcher needs to learn some compassion. I hope she’s found a new job because this isn’t it.

— LvethyNeighbor (@lisahawkfan) March 14, 2025

I realize 911 operators have to keep their composure but this is next level. She seems annoyed they had to call and unconcerned that they were upset. She was more upset they were emotional and couldn’t speak and passed the phone around.

— Mlilly (@Lilly14M) March 14, 2025

Why do many 911 operators sound like they hate anyone who calls them?

— Courtney (@_courttpaige) March 14, 2025

We need retraining for dispatchers in America. They all sound like assholes and have no empathy for what people are going through.

— Derek D (@Dorfman16) March 15, 2025

What is wrong with that 911 operator? Good grief lady. She was about to tell you exactly what happened at 4:00 am and you cut her off? Is this a joke? It would’ve been a true and raw account of what took place – exactly what grieving people are so desperately asking for.

— Charlie (@charliebayer8) March 15, 2025

What is up with the 911 operator – where is the compassion
– she sounds like they are interrupting her break or something.

— KW (@karmawithkim) March 15, 2025

Dispatcher is absolutely awful. This is not the job for her. She’s not nice, patient or understanding of her job. I hope she got fired for this. Clearly they were frantic. She needs to learn some compassion.

— Amber Minton (@ambernichole44) March 15, 2025

To be fair though, I can see how she would be frustrated at not being able to get the information she needed. She also didn’t know the severity of the scene, or that she was talking to a girl whose four friends had just been murdered.

But still, isn’t it possible to get that information without sounding like it’s an inconvenience to do your job?

Regardless, just a terrible situation all around.