Teen calls 911 during McDonald’s armed robbery — dispatcher mom answers call
A 16-year-old girl working at a McDonald’s in New Orleans called 911 from the freezer to report an armed robbery — and discovered her mother was on the other end of the call.
Tenia Hill placed the call for help while her mother, Teri Clark, was working a late-night shift at the dispatch center on Oct. 17, news station WDSU News reported.
“I was in a state of shock,” her mom told the outlet.
Clark recalled asking for the McDonald’s location and her daughter responding, “It’s me, Tenia … on Claiborne … Mama, help!”
An armed woman entered the fast foot chain and locked Hill and other employees in a freezer, according to WDSU, which obtained a recording of the 911 call and surveillance video from the restaurant.
“Mama, please hurry up, she got a gun,” Tenia Hill told her mother during the call.
Clark, who has worked with Orleans Parish Communication District for 24 years, then instructed her daughter to give a description of the suspect.
“What broke me down was when my child said, ‘We’re in the freezer.’ And I said, ‘The freezer?’ … While I was taking the call, tears coming down my face, but I am still trying to do my job,” Clark said.
Throughout the terrifying ordeal, Clark was able to keep her daughter calm and get officers from the New Orleans Police Department to the scene.
Hill recalled feeling “really scared” and said she never imagined she would be getting robbed at gunpoint at her first job.
“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,” Hill said.
Clark’s employer praised her ability to carry out her job despite the stressful conditions.
“If I could clone Teri I would,” Tyrell Morris, the executive director of the communication district, told WDSU. “I would remind everyone we have people under the headset that have feelings and emotions. We are committed to your safety 365 days a year even when it’s our own child.”
