An energetic shooter hoax that prompted a lockdown at New Jersey’s largest army base was brought on by a civilian worker who needed to “trauma bond” together with her colleagues, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
Malika Brittingham, who works for the Naval Air Warfare Middle in Maryland and is assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, faces counts of knowingly conveying false and deceptive data associated to the usage of firearms at a federal facility, in keeping with a felony grievance filed by federal prosecutors. It wasn’t identified Wednesday if she’s retained an legal professional.
The lockdown order was issued shortly earlier than 11 a.m. Tuesday on the sprawling base, which is among the many nation’s largest army installations. In accordance with a felony grievance filed within the case, Brittingham allegedly texted somebody round 10:15 a.m., writing {that a} shooter was on the bottom, that she had heard 5 or 6 photographs and that she was hiding in a closet with co-workers.
The individual she texted then referred to as the bottom’s operation middle and 911, relaying what Brittingham informed her, the grievance said. That prompted the lockdown order, officers mentioned.
The lockdown lasted about an hour earlier than base officers decided there was no shooter.
Brittingham initially informed authorities that she didn’t ship the textual content till after she was informed to shelter in place, in keeping with the grievance, however additional investigation relating to the timing proved that was false, prosecutors mentioned.
Brittingham ultimately admitted that she despatched the textual content and knew there was no energetic shooter, prosecutors mentioned. She informed investigators she carried out the hoax as a result of she had been “ostracized by her co-workers and hoped that their shared expertise in response to an energetic shooter would permit them to ‘trauma bond,’” the grievance mentioned.
The U.S. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst spans 42,000 acres and combines Air Pressure, Military and Navy features with greater than 42,000 service members, family members and civilian workers.
The incident unfolded as U.S. army leaders gathered on the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, the place Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth had summoned them from all over the world to listen to him declare an finish to “woke” tradition within the armed forces, amongst different Trump administration priorities.
