A 911 operator answered a call during an armed robbery in New Orleans last month and soon realized the distressed caller was her own daughter.
Teri Clark, an assistant operations manager at Orleans Parish Communication District, was answering calls when her 16-year-old daughter, Tenia Hill, who was working at a McDonald’s, begged for help as an armed woman held people hostage at the fast-food chain on Oct. 17. The woman forced the employees to move into the freezer, Hill told her mother on the 911 call.
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“Mama, please hurry up. She’s got a gun,” Hill said on a 911 call recording obtained by CNN affiliate WDSU. The woman was also wearing a mask, Hill said.
Hill said she had managed to call 911 from inside the freezer and remained calm while answering questions from her mother about the situation.
“I was really scared because I would never imagined at my first job I would be getting robbed let alone having a gun pointed at me,” Hill told the outlet. “I was very worried because I didn’t want my mom to have to bury her youngest child. I could have lost my life, but she saved my life. I was very happy.”
Clark, who was scheduled to be off the clock when the call came in, said she was shocked when she heard her daughter’s voice on the other end, but she was able to direct the New Orleans Police Department to the scene.
“Where it broke me down was when my child said, ‘We are in the freezer,'” Clark said. “While I was taking the call, tears were coming down my face. I am still trying to do my job, and I did the job to the best of my ability.”
Clark took the rest of the day off after the police rescued her daughter but returned to work the next day, according to the outlet.
Tyrell Morris, the executive director of the communication district, praised Clark’s response and said he would clone Clark if he could.
“Teri Clark is a shining example of what our 911 heroes in New Orleans and across the nation do every day. We answer each and every call with passion, purpose and professionalism, even when it is our own family,” Morris said.
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It is unclear whether the suspect in the robbery has been caught, as she fled the scene on foot, officials said. The woman allegedly stole cash from the company’s safe before fleeing the scene.
Armed robbery is on the rise in New Orleans, according to the Metropolitan Crime Commission. It has outpaced all other violent crimes in New Orleans, up nearly 50% compared to the same time last year, according to Fox 8.
