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AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A suspect is in custody following a string of shootings across Aurora that ended in police opening fire.

That suspect, 38-year-old Eugene Demetrius Robertson, was arrested outside the Robinwood Condominiums after neighbors say he fired multiple shots into a condo unit. 

Dispatch came 10 minutes after 911 calls began

Shannon Walker lives inside. She told FOX31 she started calling 911 at 11:57 p.m., but she couldn’t get through. 

“Yeah, 911 wouldn’t respond to us. They wouldn’t come. They wasn’t answering our calls,” she said. “Where do you go when somebody’s shooting into your house? Where do you go? I just panicked.”

Aurora Police say dispatchers started receiving 911 calls from the complex at 12:01 a.m., but police were not dispatched until 12:10 a.m., arriving at 12:14 a.m.

In that 13-minute window, Walker said Robertson shot through her door and walls, yelling from outside.

“We finally get them on the phone, and then it crashes through. All I hear is glass, and I just screamed,” Walker said. 

Aurora911 on response time

An Aurora911 spokesperson told FOX31 that “the reporting caller was extremely uncooperative, presenting great difficulty in obtaining information, which delayed the deployment process.”

They also released a statement saying Walker’s family hung up and re-dialed 911 multiple times before reaching a dispatcher.” Here is the full statement:

Each time the caller disconnected and redialed 9-1-1, they placed themselves at the back of the queue. This is an example of why we strongly encourage callers to always remain on the line when dialing 9-1-1, to ensure callers connect with a 9-1-1 professional in the fastest manner possible. Not only does hanging up and calling back delay connection time during a fast moving, high volume event such as this one, but it also requires 9-1-1 professionals to return every abandoned call, removing them from availability to answer new incoming calls. 

Aurora911 wishes to emphasize that the questions asked by a 9-1-1 professional do not delay response, but are intentionally designed to expedite the correct (and safest) response to a call. While the 9-1-1 professional is gathering information from a caller, the dispatcher reviews the updated information in real time and passes it along to responders as they are coordinating their deployment to the call.  Answering our questions provides the details responders need to respond appropriately, and consider the steps that must be taken to ensure a safe scene, minimize the ongoing risks to victims and to residents in close proximity to where a crime has occurred, and obtain identifying information about a potential suspect, so they are prepared to quickly identify and intervene with the correct person.

Aurora911