911 call sparks confusion among first responders and prison staff after Christa Pike survived execution attempt

Published: 19:47 EDT, 12 October 2026 | Updated: 20:52 EDT, 12 October 2026 Tennessee police were left confused and incredulous after prison officials reported that Christa Pike survived her execution attempt last month - with one dispatcher even believing it was a false report. Pike, 50, received two doses of pentobarbital on September 30 as Tennessee state officials tried to execute her for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer, but was still breathing in the aftermath. The unusual chain of events left prison officials and first responders scrambling as they tried to figure out if the report was legitimate, according to newly-released police dispatch audio transcripts.The documents show that the first 911 call came in at 8.40pm, just one hour after the attempted lethal injection got underway.'We've been carrying out an execution tonight. We've administered 10 grams of pentobarbital. The person is not yet deceased,' the caller said as he asked for an ambulance.The dispatcher then replied by asking the caller for a verification code for agencies to confirm to one another that a call is not a false report, which the caller did not have.At that point, the dispatcher called the Tennessee Department of Correction Central Control at 8.59 to verify the call's authenticity.'We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening and we need to send an ambulance,' or 'if this is someone that is basically prank-calling,' she said.The dispatcher was then told that nobody from that office had called police about a botched execution, and at 9.03pm the dispatcher concluded, 'We have been informed it is a false call' and 'there is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison.' Christa Pike, 50, was hospitalized after surviving two doses of pentobarbital as the state tried to execute her for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer Emergency responders were seen rushing to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution following the botched execution on September 30But at 9.06pm, 26 minutes after the first call, the Department of Correction finally called back with a code. Still, the news did not reach the gate at the prison as a first responder reported: 'Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it's real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people.'Finally, at 9.11pm, a police dispatcher called the Tennessee Highway Patrol asking the department to send a trooper to the prison so that emergency vehicles could get through the prison gates.'We need to send police hot because there is someone at the gate telling them this is real and they need to enter, but they can't enter without police because we never got the codes,' the dispatcher said. 'Can you send a trooper out there?''And just so you guys are aware, the defense attorney by the name of Kelly Cleason is calling us and asking about an update. So it's escalating.' Ambulances and police vehicles were photographed outside the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution minutes later, and records show that Pike was sent to a local hospital at 9.36pm.She was left on a ventilator for several days and, at one point, her attorneys did not expect her to survive. She regained consciousness last Tuesday and began talking limitedly and walking with assistance, they said. Pike was discharged from the hospital and returned to the women's prison where she was housed for 30 years, her lawyers said Saturday.'She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery,' they said. The Tennessee Department of Correction has not said what went wrong in the attempted execution. Medical experts have raised a few possibilities that could explain how Pike was able to survive, including potential drug quality issues and the placement of IV lines causing the drug to pool in her tissue.