A mother who works at an emergency response center in New Orleans, Louisiana, took an 911 call about an armed robbery at a McDonald’s. Her daughter happened to be on the phone.
Tenia Hill, 16, was robbed at gunpoint and forced into a freezer along with other employees at McDonald’s where she worked on October 17. She dialed 911 – and of all people, her mother, Teri Clark, answered.
In an interview with WDSU, Clark said she asked the caller about the location of McDonald’s when her daughter said, “It’s me Tenia… Mom, help!”
“Mom, please hurry up. She has a gun,” Hill said in a recording of the 911 call obtained by WDSU.
“We’re hurrying, give me a description,” her mother, Teri Clark, replied.
She was able to keep her daughter calm until New Orleans police arrived at the scene.
Afterwards, Clark said in an interview it “broke me down” when her daughter said she was in the freezer.
“I had tears streaming down my face as I took the call,” she said. “I’m still trying to do my job and I did the job to the best of my ability.”
The Orleans communications district executive said Clark was a model employee who handled the call just right.
“Teri Clark is a shining example of what our 911 heroes do in New Orleans and across the country every day,” Tyrell Morris told CNN. “We answer every call with passion, determination and professionalism, even if it’s our own family.”