Hoax call about gorilla taken to Hartford Hospital makes rounds on social media

It’s not every day you hear about a silverback gorilla being shot with a tranquilizer and on the way to the hospital.

But that is the call Hartford dispatchers took on May 16.

Hartford Hospital took the initial call from someone saying they had a silverback gorilla and they were bringing it to the hospital. The hospital then called police.

A recording of the police dispatcher transmission about the call is making the rounds on social media.

“There's a silverback gorilla in it that was shot with a tranquilizer, and it might be in cardiac arrest. The human driver is bringing it to Hartford Hospital," the dispatcher said on the call.

The dispatcher can be heard laughing during the transmission.

“It's a 1989 blue van. It's got Florida reg on it. It’s occupied two times. Once by a human and once by a gorilla," said Dispatch. "At 23:34, we checked.”

Hartford police told us this was a hoax call, but John Powers, a professor for the School of Communication at Quinnipiac University, told us the impact of social media is very real.

“One thing we know for sure is that the more outrageous, the more something that, you know, just gets us to stop on social media is going to just grab all the attention,” said Powers.

Powers referenced a recent survey that indicates a person will spend about .3 seconds looking at a social media post before deciding if they should scroll or not.

"The thought is what would get someone to stop and actually look further or share a comment on my post. And a lot of times it's outrageous things like this that get people to notice and not just keep scrolling," said Powers.

Allison Olivieri said this type of viral clip is problematic.

“Kids now see these things, and they try to one-up each other. And they try to emulate it, and it gets out of hand so quickly," Olivieri said.

Others say these pranks can take valuable time away from first responders.

“It’s not like calling Mrs. Jones next door and telling her there’s a delivery for her. These are more sophisticated and can be more troublesome,” said Rich McGeary, of Avon.

Hartford police told us no one has been arrested for the prank call.