911 worker didn’t warn cops of guns


PITTSBURGH (AP) — Three police officers killed while answering a call about a woman fighting with her son didn’t know the man had weapons, but a 911 operator did. She just didn’t tell anyone.

The operator, who was hired in November, should have asked for more information and didn’t relay even the basic information she had to police dispatchers, the official in charge of county dispatchers said Tuesday. She is now on paid administrative leave and is receiving counseling because supervisors are concerned about her well-being.

The three officers killed Saturday morning will lie in state at the City-County Building today, and all three will be honored at a memorial service Thursday. Richard Poplawski, 22, is under close observation at the Allegheny County Jail on criminal homicide, attempted homicide and other charges, said Warden Ramon Rustin.

Robert Full, Allegheny County Chief of Emergency Services, said the 911 operator is too distraught to be interviewed. She apparently inferred the weapons weren’t a factor because her conversation with the mother was casual and because Poplawski didn’t report being threatened, he said.

He said she’d shown “tremendous aptitude,” but made a “definite error” in her handling of Saturday’s call.

When officers arrived at the house, Margaret Poplawski opened the door for them. She later told police that she didn’t know that her 22-year-old son was standing behind her with a gun.

Police say Richard Poplawski shot officer Paul Sciullo II, 37, in the home and officer Stephen Mayhle, 29, on the front stoop within seconds. He then shot officer Eric Kelly, 41, in the street as he arrived to back them up, prompting a four-hour siege and gunbattle with police, authorities said.

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