Emergency help for Christa Pike was delayed over confusion after botched execution, 911 calls reveal

October 12, 2026 / 7:01 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Emergency help for Christa Pike was delayed by confusion among first responders and Tennessee prison officials following her failed lethal injection last month, according to 911 dispatch recordings released Monday.

The recordings, first obtained by The Associated Press, show that precious minutes elapsed as officials and responders tried to figure out whether a request for emergency help in the execution chamber was legitimate. The first call came in at 8:40 p.m. on Sept. 30.

"We've been carrying out an execution tonight. We've administered 10 grams of pentobarbital. The person is not yet deceased. That started approximately 1 hour ago. And we're calling for an ambulance," the caller told the dispatcher, according to a transcript released by the Nashville Department of Emergency Communications.

The dispatcher asked the caller for a verification code, which the caller did not have.

The DEC released several other calls between the agency and Nashville Fire Department, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol Dispatch and Tennessee Department of Correction Central Control as it attempted to confirm the emergency at Riverbend Prison.

It was about half an hour before prison officials affirmed it was legitimate and began letting…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/