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3 Fla. dispatchers fired after fatal gun battle

They did not alert responders to a house fire that a man at the home threatened to shoot arriving law enforcement; a deputy was killed and one wounded before the man was killed

The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An official says three employees at an emergency dispatch agency have been fired because they did not alert deputies and firefighters responding to a house fire that a man at the home threatened to shoot arriving law enforcement.

When deputies arrived at the fire in Tallahassee on Nov. 22, they were ambushed by 53-year-old Curtis Wade Holley. Authorities said he fatally shot Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Smith and wounded another deputy before he was killed in a gun battle outside his home.

Tim Lee, director of the city-county Consolidated Dispatch Agency, told The Tallahassee Democrat on Friday that the three employees failed to warn first responders about Holley’s threats.