Suit tossed in active shooter drill woman believed was real

Mar 29, 2023, 4:28 PM

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an employee of Catholic Charities of Omaha who said she suffered physical and emotional injuries during an active shooter drill involving actors smeared in fake blood and a man firing blanks from a semiautomatic handgun.

Douglas County District Court Judge Timothy Burns ruled that Workers’ Compensation Court should decide Sandra Lopez’s claims against Catholic Charities over the drill last year at the organization’s headquarters, the Omaha World-Herald reported Wednesday.

Lopez said in the lawsuit that administrators did not warn employees that a drill was planned on May 19, 2022. One administrator who knew it was staged told her, “It is a shooting” as they ran out of the building together, according to the lawsuit.

Lopez said she hurt her back while fleeing and also has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Catholic Charities sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, contending it should be decided in Workers’ Compensation Court, which has jurisdiction over accidental work-related injuries.

Lopez’s attorney, Tom White, argued that Catholic Charities intentionally injured Lopez and other employees by not telling them the drill was staged. He said an exception to state laws should be made when an employer intentionally harms employees.

But Burns granted Catholic Charities’ motion to dismiss last week, saying Nebraska laws and court precedent established that Workers’ Compensation Court is the exclusive remedy in such cases.

White said he intends to appeal the ruling.

Burns said he agreed the alleged facts show Catholic Charities had a “specific intent to injure” Lopez. But he cited a 2013 Nebraska Supreme Court ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of a grain bin worker who died because of criminal negligence by his employer.

The state Supreme Court said the man’s death was an accident, despite the employer’s negligence. It said any change to allow exceptions for intentional acts would have to be made by the Legislature.

The man who was hired by Catholic Charities to stage the drill, John Channels, of Omaha, was charged in August with five counts of making terroristic threats and one weapons count. Channels was not named in the lawsuit.

The incident unfolded when Channels showed up at Omaha Catholic Charities firing blanks and staging “victims” who appeared to have been wounded or killed, police said. The charity had hired him to test its workers’ preparedness for such an attack.

Police said the charity paid Channels $2,500 to carry out the mock shooting and went along with his request not to inform employees beforehand.

United States News

Migrants get help with the CBPOne app from a Tijuana, Mexico city worker Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in...

Associated Press

CBP One app assists asylum-seekers after end of Title 42

More than 79,000 people were admitted under CBP One from its Jan. 12 launch through the end of April.

17 hours ago

Associated Press

3 wounded in shooting in Texas strip club parking lot, gunman killed

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A man wounded three people when he opened fire in the parking lot of a Texas strip club early Sunday before being fatally shot by the club’s armed security, authorities said. The man opened fire in the direction of people in the parking lot after being asked to leave following […]

17 hours ago

Associated Press

Man in police custody falls to death after breaking California hospital window with oxygen tank

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after he broke a hospital’s window with a metal oxygen tank and fell off a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, authorities said. The man was in custody because he had allegedly violated a court order, […]

17 hours ago

Associated Press

South Carolina group to ask Supreme Court to rename landmark school desegregation case

SUMMERTON, S.C. (AP) — Civil rights leaders in South Carolina plan to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to rename the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision that outlawed segregation of public schools across the country. Over the next three months, a group representing past plaintiffs and their descendants plans to file paperwork asking the […]

17 hours ago

Associated Press

Debt ceiling agreement gets thumbs up from biz groups, jeers from some on political right

WASHINGTON (AP) — The reviews are starting to come in as details emerge about the debt ceiling agreement reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Already, some lawmakers are criticizing the deal as not doing enough to tackle the nation’s debt, while others worry it’s too austere and will harm many low-income […]

17 hours ago

Associated Press

Police: 3 killed in shootout involving outlaw biker gangs at New Mexico motorcycle rally

RED RIVER, N.M. (AP) — Three men killed in a weekend shootout at a New Mexico motorcycle rally were members of rival outlaw biker gangs, and the violence stemmed from a previous altercation between them in Albuquerque, authorities said Sunday. New Mexico State Police said three other bikers are facing charges and two of them […]

17 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

SANDERSON FORD

Thank you to Al McCoy for 51 years as voice of the Phoenix Suns

Sanderson Ford wants to share its thanks to Al McCoy for the impact he made in the Valley for more than a half-decade.

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

How to identify the symptoms of 3 common anxiety disorders

Living with an anxiety disorder can be debilitating and cause significant stress for those who suffer from the condition.

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

Suit tossed in active shooter drill woman believed was real