4 Atlanta college students say calls to 911 during carjacking on hold; police say can’t hear

Police: 911 calls during carjacking not on hold

ATLANTA — Four college students said Monday that they were put on hold as they tried to contact 911 for help when they were carjacked at gunpoint near campus, but police said the calls were indecipherable or gave no information that could lead officers to them.

The gunmen on Sunday night forced two of the students into the trunk of a Buick LaCrosse, while the other two were in the back seat, the four said at a news conference at Morehouse College in Atlanta. One of the two in the trunk tried to place call after call to 911, but couldn’t get through, he said.

Instead they called Morehouse campus police who sent help.

However, according to audio that city police gave to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, very little can be heard in two of the calls. Two others hang up before being answered, police said.

“The 911 operator could hear the victim talking in the background, but could not ascertain vital information needed to complete the call,” Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. Curtis Davenport said in an e-mail.

Morehouse police dispatcher Karen Wells said the students seemed calm and were whispering. On the dispatch tape, one of them said, “please hurry, they said they are going to kill us.”

The four students asked that their names not be used because one of their assailants was still on the loose.

Morehouse police Chief Vernon Worthy confirmed the four were carjacked near campus. Three go to Morehouse, the fourth to American InterContinental University, which is also in Atlanta.

The gunmen were taking the four to an ATM to get money from their bank accounts, Worthy said.

Wells directed officers from Morehouse and other campuses to a bank where police found the victims and arrested two of the three suspects.

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, www.ajc.com