Powell Murder Has Wrong People Filled With Guilt - Does 911 op share blame?

[Cafe Steph]

Josh Powell Murder Has All the Wrong People Filled With Guilt (VIDEO)

Posted by Sasha Brown-Worsham on February 11, 2012 

The Josh Powell murder-suicide case involving two young children is so heartbreaking, it is easy to see why we want to find someone to blame. The latest victim is the 911 operator whose 8-minute delay in dispatching the authorities to the house is being partially blamed for the tragedy when Powell blew up his house, killing himself and his two children.

David Lovrak, one of the 911 operators who took the call from a social worker outside Josh Powell's house, had an interview with NBC’s Dateline Friday night where he expressed remorse and guilt over the delay and his handling of the call. But he had no way of understanding the situation and he should not feel guilty.

In fact, the only person who should feel guilty is Powell. See Lovrak HERE

Lovrak clearly feels guilty that it took 22 minutes to get a deputy to the scene, saying:

Especially for somebody who has done this for as long as I have, to re-listen to the call and hear how clumsy and faltering I sounded. It was horrible. This has been a nightmare...Realizing what we all know now, I wish I had recognized the urgency of the situation.

He is right. He should have recognized it, but in the end, there is nothing he could have done.

Powell had attacked his children with a hatchet just moments after they arrived at their father's home with the social worker. Powell claimed he had a "surprise" for them and then attacked them and blew up the home.

To think that those children had placed all of their trust in their father and believed he was going to surprise them truly is heart-wrenching. But the amount of people Powell leaves feeling guilty and bewildered is also sick and cruel.

Everyone from the social worker to Lovrak is blaming themselves, but there is nothing anyone could have done. Powell is a sick, sick man who has left so much guilt and shame in his wake, it is nauseating.

According to Elizabeth Griffin-Hall, the social worker who had the boys Charles, 7, and Braden, 5, Powell was a man who knew what he was going to do: 

He caught my eye, his shoulders were slumped. He had a sheepish look. He just shrugged his shoulders and slammed the door.

There is nothing anyone could have done to save those boys and that fact will haunt us all. Sure, we want to assign blame to someone living who can be the scapegoat for all this. I do, too. It is a tragic case and anyone of us can look at it and think of our own precious children. But the fact is, these children were taken by someone who should have been protecting them and there is nothing anyone could have done to stop him.

Hindsight does nothing but cause unnecessary guilt and grief. We are all struggling to understand but there is no one to blame here but Powell himself.

Do you think the 911 operator shares some blame for being slow?

[worwalkerlds]

He should feel guilty.

[2metalbabies]

I watched that last night, and while he sounded like a total douche on the phone, he was really only doing his job. And i feel, had the police shown up more lives could have been lost. It's sad what happened, but at least the casualities were kept to a minimum.

[Kylie819]

I think that the dispatcher could have done everything right and the outcome would have been the same :(

[TraceyMR]

This

Quoting worwalkerlds:

He should feel guilty.

[atlmom2]

The house was in flames.  There was NOTHING anyone could have done even if they rushed there in a few minutes.  He killed the kids with an ax before setting the house on fire.  No one is to blame but Josh Powell. 

[starryeyez23]

I agree with this. Had he dispatched someone instead of playing 20 questions those boys could possibly still be alive.

Quoting worwalkerlds:

He should feel guilty.

[ekralevich]

I don't think anyone is to blame for it but the father.  Are there things we can learn from this sure.  I'm sure there will be changes to supervised visitations.  I'm sure 911 will be told to handle things differently.  I'm sure these people feel awful.

[lovinmykiddo07]

WHOAH, I had no idea abou the hatchet. :( I dont have cable so most news I see comes from the internet. But I hadn't read that yet. So sad.

[ekralevich]

THey would not have gotten there on time.  an average call for police in a rush is 10min.  The dispatcher didn't understand what she was saying and she didn't understand what he was asking.  It's sad yea.  Not his fault.

Quoting starryeyez23:

I agree with this. Had he dispatched someone instead of playing 20 questions those boys could possibly still be alive.

Quoting worwalkerlds:

He should feel guilty.

[atlmom2]

They were killed by an ax instantly when they entered the home. 

Quoting starryeyez23:

I agree with this. Had he dispatched someone instead of playing 20 questions those boys could possibly still be alive.

Quoting worwalkerlds:

He should feel guilty.