On July 17, 1984, James Huberty called a mental health clinic to complain that he has mental health problems, and requested for an appointment. Two days earlier, he had made the same complain to his wife.
He gave the clinic his address and other important details, hoping that they would reach out to him. He sat close to the phone for several hours waiting for a call from the clinic but no one called him.
The next day, Huberty took a gun, hid ammunition in a blanket and told his wife he was “going hunting… hunting for humans.” He looked at his daughter and told her: “Goodbye. I won’t be back.”
After the farewell pleasantries with his wife and daughter, he drove to a McDonald’s, shot 21 people dead and injured 19 others. He was later killed by a sniper.
Why the hospital didn’t respond to his call
The receptionist explained that she misspelled his name, and since he spoke calmly on the phone and told her that he had never been hospitalized for mental health issues, she didn’t take his case as an urgent one.
She had registered his call as a “non-crisis” inquiry, to be handled within 48 hours. Obviously, 48 hours was too long. #HistoryLand
Credit: apotheosos of knowledge facts
