It was a surge of calls unlike a typical evening in Tucson.
When a shooting broke out at Park Place Mall on March 18, Tucson’s 911 system was quickly flooded with calls, receiving 177 in just 15 minutes, according to the city’s Public Safety Communications Department.
At the time of the incident, officials say there were seven critical call takers handling 911 calls. Supervisors stepped in to help manage the sudden influx, but the director says that kind of spike would challenge any call center…