Funerals Begin Tuesday For Victims Of Deadly Quintuple Hit And Run

Monday, November 12th 2007, 6:00 pm

By: News On 6

Families of the victims from a deadly hit and run crash Friday night prepare to bury their dead. The funerals begin Tuesday for the five people killed in the wreck. The News On 6â€™s Emory Bryan reports four of them were there trying to help a woman who wrecked her motorcycle, when they were all run over and killed.

Ann Sullivan has spent the last few days going over the life of her brother Shannon.

"Shannon was an awesome guy, and we are so blessed to remember him because that was him," said Shannonâ€™s sister Ann Sullivan.

Shannon was one of the five people killed Friday night. He worked at the Back Yard Bar, and rushed out to help when a patron fell on her motorcycle in the road.

"We are totally at peace with what he was doing and where he was at, because that's what we would expect from him, he would be in the middle of traffic helping someone if that's where he was needed," Ann Sullivan said.

The suspected driver, Kimberly Graham, remains in the Tulsa County jail on five counts of manslaughter, with a $200,000 bond. According to police records, Graham told an officer that on the night of accident, she had one mixed drink, six beers and two shots. Witnesses at the scene said the truck that ran over the victims continued past the scene and ran a red light a block away. Graham told police she visited three bars before the accident, all in East Tulsa. She told police she was driving north to her home near Admiral and Yale when the crash occurred at 12th and Memorial.

Now at the scene, friends gather to embrace as they remember the people they lost, and some tend to the roadside memorial adding pictures of the victims. The owner of the bar is trying to raise money for the families.

"To make sure the children involved are taken care of, we're hoping to raise enough money to have a college fund for them," said bar owner Danny Bell.

The sound from the scene, as the people were hit by the truck, was recorded in a 911 call. EMSA will not release that tape because of medical privacy laws that prohibit release of medical information that EMSA says is also on the tape.

When EMSA receives a 911 call, dispatchers follow carefully crafted, National Academies of Emergency Dispatch-approved protocols to best determine patientsâ€™ conditions and to give aid before responders arrive on scene.

All calls begin with the following:

EMSA: Whatâ€™s the address of your emergency?

If caller is on a cell phone, they are asked to repeat the address since the exact location is not transmitted via cell phones yet. An ambulance is then assigned to respond to a location as soon as the address is confirmed.

Whatâ€™s the phone number youâ€™re calling from?

The caller is asked to repeat their number if it is not transmitted.

Whatâ€™s the problem? Tell me exactly what happened.

At this point, the dispatcher must select which line of questioning to follow, based on the information the caller has provided.