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KC police stuck in an elevator, who do you call? Firefighters

Kansas City firefighter Tony George Pisciotta gives a thumbs-up during a rescue of trapped Kansas City tactical police officers at the Regional Police Academy.
Kansas City firefighter Tony George Pisciotta gives a thumbs-up during a rescue of trapped Kansas City tactical police officers at the Regional Police Academy.

The photo already has been tweeted and retweeted over and over again.

It’s probably on your Twitter or Facebook timeline.

On Wednesday, Kansas City firefighters were dispatched on an emergency to rescue a group stuck in an elevator. Happens every so often. No big deal.

But this call came from the Kansas City Police Regional Academy at Interstate 435 and Pleasant Valley Road. The individuals stuck between floors: tactical police officers.

It took firefighters about 20 minutes to “rescue” them.

Someone snapped a photo of firefighter Tony George Pisciotta giving a thumbs-up sign. It shows the trapped officers in the background simply enjoying the moment.

Tim Dupin posted the photo on Facebook and tweeted it. By early Thursday afternoon, it had been shared more than 8,000 times on Facebook, retweeted 18,000 times and had 5.6 million hits on Imgur and Reddit.

“We have a good relationship with the police department, and it is just a lot of fun,” said Tim Dupin, a business representative for Local 42 of the International Association of Fire Fighters. “We are able to laugh at each other and have a good time, but we are always supportive of each other.”

Kansas City police also posted the photo on the department’s Facebook page.

“Well that was embarrassing,” the post said.

By midafternoon Thursday, 43,000 people had liked the post.

Glenn E. Rice: 816-234-4341, @GRicekcstar

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 11:54 AM with the headline "KC police stuck in an elevator, who do you call? Firefighters."

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