A 911 call from the 2023 Ohio case involving Chad Doerman is circulating on social media again, and some posts are criticizing how the dispatcher handled it. Here is what is documented about the case, and what is not.
The case
On June 15, 2023, three boys, ages 7, 4 and 3, were shot and killed at their home in Monroe Township, in Clermont County, Ohio, according to NBC24. Their father, Chad Doerman, was arrested at the scene, and deputies arrested him without incident, Fox 19 reported.
On Aug. 2, 2024, Doerman pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious assault. Judge Richard Ferenc sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole as part of a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped the death penalty, according to Fox 19 and NBC24.
The 911 calls
The audio of the 911 calls was obtained by DailyMail.com in June 2023, and The Independent reported that at least two calls were referenced: one from a neighbor and one from the boys’ mother. In August 2024, the prosecutor said the first 911 call “somehow got disconnected,” Fox 19 reported.
The criticism of the dispatcher
Some social media posts have criticized how the dispatcher handled the call, and some have called for the dispatcher to be fired. In the news coverage reviewed for this article, there was no report of an official review, finding or discipline related to how the calls were handled. The dispatcher has not been publicly identified in that coverage, and the county has not responded publicly to the online criticism in the coverage reviewed.
Short audio clips shared online do not show what a dispatch center did behind the scenes, such as when units were sent. It is also not clear what prompted the latest wave of posts about the call.
