Verizon Wireless said it has resolved an issue for customers who were reporting difficulty when calling 911.
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office, Hernando County Sheriff's Office (near Tampa), and Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported Verizon customers who were attempting to reach 911 were either unable to hear the 911 dispatcher on the other end or may have experienced a call failure or a silent phone call. A law enforcement agency in Tennessee also warned about a similar issue.
Verizon was made aware of the issue which was reportedly fixed around 8 p.m. on Tuesday. In a statement to FOX 35, Verizon confirmed the issue and said its engineers were working to resolve the issue. However, Verizon's statement did not elaborate on the cause of the issue, the issue itself, or provide a timeframe of when it would be resolved.
"Our network engineers are working hard to resolve an issue that's resulting in delays in connecting 911 calls for some customers in your area. The safety of our customers is our utmost priority. If you need to reach 911, please do not hang up, as calls are still being connected," Verizon said in a statement.