Video: Responding to Emergencies & Tragedies

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EUPORA, Miss. (WCBI)- Eupora Police Officer Keith Crenshaw will be laid to rest on Sunday.

Visitation will be Saturday from 5:30 pm to 8 pm at Oliver Funeral Home. The funeral will be Sunday at 2pm at the First Baptist Church in Eupora.

The veteran officer was struck and killed during a chase of the suspects in an attempted bank robbery.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has released the names of two of the men police were chasing Wednesday.

Frank Levon Maye of Orlando, Florida, 33, is one of them. he’s currently in intensive care North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

Brandon Johnson, 26, is being held on armed robbery charges in the Grenada County Jail.

Dozens of emergency personnel were on the scene in the midst of the chaos Wednesday.

But people also tend to forget those who help guide law enforcement and EMS to the scene.

Webster county 911 director Jimmy Mclemore was by himself Wednesday at the 911 operation center when he received several calls about the high-speed chase.

He was also one of the last people who spoke to officer Crenshaw.

“He let me know that he was en route up there and told me where he was going to be positioning himself. he called his number and said he was in service on scene. That was the last time i talked to him,” said McLemore.

Being a 911 operator is not an easy task. One of their biggest challenges is remaining calm in the midst of chaos.

“You’re trying to monitor 5 or 6 different things going on at the same time. During that time, you’ve got 15 people wanting different thins all at one and you just have to prioritize everything and try to take the most important parts first and get to the other ones second,” said Mclemore.

In addition to handling several calls and monitoring scanner traffic, they’re also a support system for people in distress.

“You try to deal with it and support them. Even though we are not right there with them we are there by voice and we talk to them on the phone and we try to calm them down and let them know that everything’s okay and we are sending help to them,” said Mclemore.

Jimmy knows personally that when the community needs them, 911 operators step up to the plate.

“I had several other dispatchers that heard about the incident through other communication and they took it upon themselves to come up here to the 911 center to help out, answered the phones, talked on the radio, etc. They didn’t have to do that but they’re so dedicated to their jobs that they came up to help out,” said Mclemore.

Jimmy says all 911 operators are certified to handle the pressure that comes with the job.