Dispatcher in Powell murder-suicide reprimanded

  

SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- A news report says a Washington state dispatcher who took a 911 call from a social worker just before Josh Powell killed his children and himself has been reprimanded.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that dispatcher David Lovrak was reprimanded after 22 minutes elapsed before help arrived. The reprimand letter says nearly seven minutes went by before deputies were sent.

Powell was a person of interest in his wife's 2009 Utah disappearance and had lost custody of his two sons. On Feb. 5, he grabbed them during a visit near Puyallup, Wash., slammed the door on the social worker, and killed them and himself by setting the house on fire.

The letter says Lovrak violated four policies. It also says he asked seemingly unimportant questions and failed to grasp the situation.

The paper says the written reprimand -- obtained via a public records request -- will be placed in his personnel file.

Get more National/World »

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•