"Let's Stop Whining": Dispatcher's conduct under review after 911 call

A D.C. family says they are outraged and hurt after 38-year-old Rick Warrick was killed by a hit-and-run driver while changing a tire on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

But now they say insult has added to their pain after hearing how a 911 operator spoke to Warrick's daughter when she called for help.

The 911 operator in Anne Arundel County has been banned from taking any calls after the incident.

Charmaine Ferrell will tell you she would not have thought she could feel worse after her only son was killed. But now she does.

"I think the person should be fired," she said.

She is referring to the 911 operator heard on recording telling her granddaughter to stop whining.

"My whole family, once we heard it, we all were hurt," Ferrell said. "We were devastated. We were truly disappointed."

On Sunday night at 9:15 p.m., Warrick was killed by a hit-and-run driver on the northbound lanes of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at Route 197 in Anne Arundel County. His fiancée and son were injured, leaving Warrick's teenage daughter to call 911.

"Ma'am, stop yelling! I need a location," said the dispatcher.

Warrick's crying daughter is heard crying and asks if rescuers could hurry up.

"Let's stop worrying about hurrying up and get there," said the dispatcher. "We're already on our way."

The 911 operator then says this to the teen as she is watching everything unfold: "Let's stop whining, okay? Let's stop whining. It's hard to understand you."

And still later, he yells at her to stop yelling.

"Ma'am! ma'am! Please stop yelling. Stop yelling please," the operator said.

When we asked what the operator was thinking when he told her to stop whining, Capt. Russ Davies Jr. of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department said, "The operators are trained to take control of the situation."

The 911 operator is not being allowed to take anymore call and faces an investigation that could wind up in disciplinary action or termination.

"Very clearly in this case, the choice of words was not good, and that call was not handled in an effective kind of way that we would expect that call to be handled," said Davies.

But for Warrick's family, the release of the 911 recording has only added more pain to a load that was already too much to bear.

"There is no way in the world somebody should be able to talk to anybody, whether it was her or somebody else, like that when you are calling to get help," said Ferrell.

As for the investigation, the U.S. Park Police are still desperate for information in this case. There was no description of the car that killed Warrick, but investigators say it would have damage on the front passenger side.

Anyone with information is being asked to call a special tip line at 202-610-8737.