Four Van Buren County Central Dispatch employees are being honored for their work on August 20 when a teenager shot and killed a man, wounded his wife, and then took his own life on the south pier in South Haven. 9-1-1 shift supervisor Mike Hostetler and dispatchers Christine Mortimer, Tom Bush, and Brooke Smith have been recognized by the Van Buren County 9-1-1 Advisory Board. They processed 78 calls to 9-1-1 over a few minutes, with almost 50 calls also going to Cass County 911. Hostetler utilized live video of the scene the moment the second suspect was shot and before the teen killed himself. The county says their quick, clear, and accurate actions is “evidence of their exemplary performance under the unusual stress of the incident.”
