Response time in murder of AT&T technician troubles union leaders

GLADSTONE, Mo. - Union leaders at CWA Local 6360 want to know why it took AT&T dispatchers 19 minutes to respond to an overnight technician's call for help.

Kevin Mashburn, 58, was killed on the job early Wednesday morning when he was attacked while working near the 2700 block of NE 57th Terrace in Gladstone.

Mashburn alerted dispatchers of the attack at 2:52 a.m.  He sent multiple instant messages pleading for help but didn't receive a response until 4:11 a.m., according to court documents.

Police weren't able to find Mashburn until 3:42 a.m.  He was rushed to the hospital where he died from his injuries.

The delayed response has troubled Mashburn's union representatives.

"I'm sure that can't be standard," CWA Local 6360 union president Joseph Blanco said.  "There had to be circumstances beyond it."

Blanco says Mashburn had been a member of the union for his entire 41-year-long career.

"Life is precious.  We have a motto that's been ingrained into us since day one that no service is so urgent no job is so important that we can't take the time to do it safety.  We live by that," Blanco said.

He says the details in the final moments of Mashburn's life have raised a swarm of questions.

"There's a lot of people concerned and looking to see how this is going to be handled," Blanco explained.  "Trust me when I tell you that we're in close communication with the company to make sure that we can do everything in our power working together to make sure it doesn't happen again."