911 operators questioned whether Christa Pike failed execution call was prank, audio reveals
911 dispatch recordings show a series of miscommunications led to delayed emergency response in the immediate aftermath of the Tennessee Department of Correction’s failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike.An initial 911 call came through to dispatchers around 8:40 p.m.on Sept.
30, roughly an hour after Pike’s planned execution began, according to the Associated Press (AP).During the call, the unidentified caller informed operators of a failed execution, but was unable to provide the operators with a code that would verify the legitimacy of the call.Following that call, operators sought to determine the authenticity, audio shows.TENNESSEE DEATH ROW INMATE SURVIVES 2 LETHAL INJECTION DOSES IN FAILED EXECUTION ATTEMPTConvicted killer Christa Gail Pike listens to proceedings on April 2008 in Knox County Criminal Court in a bid for a new trial in the 1995 killing of fellow Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer.(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)"So we have a medical call for service at the Riverbend Prison," a dispatcher says in the AP-obtained audio.The dispatcher explains to another operator that the caller said "they carried out the execution, the subject didn’t pass away and they need an ambulance because she’s not breathing normally."DEATH ROW INMATE UNCONSCIOUS ON VENTILATOR AFTER BOTCHED EXECUTION FOR TEEN’S KILLING: ATTORNEYS"We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening and we need to send an ambulance, and/or if you need police assistance, or if this is someone that is just basically prank calling or like swatting us," the operator can be heard saying.In another snippet of internal dispatcher audio, an operator can be heard calling off the emergency response.Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept.
30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.(AP Photo/George Walker IV)TENNESSEE PRISON CHIEF RESIGNS AFTER FAILED EXECUTION AS FORMER US ATTORN...