Emergency operators who were on duty Saturday morning in Pittsburgh are describing how they could hear gunshots and screaming as the synagogue rampage unfolded.

The operators spoke to media outlets Thursday.

Bruce Carlton took the initial 911 call from Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers. Carlton says he wanted to keep Myers on the phone without revealing his position to the gunman.

Carlton tells KDKA-TV that he didn’t want Myers to speak, and he tried not to either. He says the call was “surreal, like it wasn’t happening.”

Once it was over and Myers had come through physically unscathed, Carlton says he was left shaking.

The suspect, Robert Bowers, is charged with killing 11 and wounding six in the worst anti-Semitic attack in American history.

(AP)