Misuse of Alert System Triggered False Active Shooter Event at US Military Hospital - Navy
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2018) The false report of an active shooter at a US naval support base at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was caused by misuse of the alert notification system, the Navy said in a press release.
"The active shooter event aboard Naval Support Activity Bethesda today was the result of the improper use of a mass notification system by a tenant command aboard the installation," the Navy said on Tuesday. "While preparing for an upcoming drill, the notification system was inadvertently enacted without containing the words 'EXERCISE' or 'DRILL.
' Individuals who saw the mass notification statement immediately notified NSA Bethesda security [who]... instituted an installation-wide active shooter response."
NSA Bethesda security then conducted a probe and determined that the active-shooter response was the result of alert system user error.
The Walter Reed military hospital is located in Bethesda in the US state of Maryland just north of Washington, DC.