Officials to discuss 911 infrastructure after woman was crushed, killed by tree while sitting in car

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - St. Louis City officials will be discussing St. Louis City’s 911 infrastructure days after a woman was crushed and killed by a tree when she was sitting inside a car in South City.

Katherine Coen was inside a car in the 4100 block of Manchester Saturday afternoon when storms moved through the St. Louis area. A neighbor told News 4 that Coen tried to wait out the storm in her car when the tree fell. That neighbor said she called 911 and could not get through. After she called several times, she says it took nearly 40 minutes for first responders to arrive.

“When you’re on hold and when you can’t get through for 30, 40 minutes, an hour, and somebody is literally dying,” neighbor Helen Petty said.

Petty said other neighbors stayed with Coen while waiting for emergency crews to arrive.

“I am furious,” Petty said. “Not at the fire department. They were working tirelessly as soon as they got here and got the call, but our governor, in my opinion, is responsible. He cut millions of dollars in funding that was meant to improve our 911 system.”

There have been numerous concerns about 911 response times in St. Louis City over the past few years.

News 4 reached out to the City and received this statement from the Office of the Director of Public Safety:

DPS added that those reaching out for help from police should call the DPS mainline at 314-622-3392 and leave their name, phone number, and approximate time they called.

Wednesday morning at 10:00, St. Louis Public Safety Director Charles Coyle, Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Richardson, St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy, and Police Major Eric Larson discussed the response to the incident Saturday and talk about the overall infrastructure of the 911 system in the city. The press conference was held at the fire department headquarters just north of Downtown.

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