A Navy civilian employee is accused of reporting a fake shooting at New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst on Tuesday so she and ostracized co-workers could “trauma bond.”
The base received reports of an active shooter at the facility Tuesday morning. In a release, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst officials said that “no active shooter threat was substantiated” and that the base resumed normal operations just before noon.
Federal prosecutors charged Malika Brittingham with knowingly conveying false information about the use of firearms at a federal facility in a complaint filed Tuesday evening.
In the complaint, an Air Force investigator accused Ms. Brittingham of texting an unnamed individual at around 10:14 a.m. claiming to be hiding in a closet with co-workers after hearing multiple gunshots at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The message’s recipient then called the base’s operations center and 9-1-1 to report the incident.
The base took emergency measures, and people on the base sheltered in place. Ms. Brittingham is accused of telling law enforcement that she did not send her text until after getting the notification from the base about the active shooter; the timing of the recipient’s call to report the incident proved that her claim was untruthful, the investigator said.
The investigator also said that Ms. Brittingham then admitted faking the shooting threat under the assumption that the text recipient would alert law enforcement, and that Ms. Brittingham, ostracized in the workplace, committed the alleged hoax so that she and her colleagues could “trauma bond,” per the criminal complaint.
On social media, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba said, “This kind of senseless fear-mongering and disruption will not be tolerated in my state. After everything this country has gone through, especially in light of current events, I will be sure to bring down the hammer of the law for anyone found guilty of creating unnecessary panic and undermining public trust.”
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.