AMU Emergency Management Original Public Safety

EDM Wednesday Briefing: Lockdown Lifted at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Armed Suspect in Custody

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Emergency and disaster management briefing for December 11, 2019: An armed suspect is in custody and the lockdown has been lifted for the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi; the recovery of bodies on White Island was halted as increased activity indicates another eruption may occur; six people are dead, including one police officer, after two gunman opened fire in New Jersey; a recall has been issued for El Monterey breakfast burritos due to possible foreign matter contamination; fires caused by the derailment of a CP crude oil freight train on Monday are now under control in Saskatchewan, Canada; a gunman opened fire in a waiting room in Czech and killed 6 people; smoke from more than 100 brush fires pushed air quality levels to more than 12 times the hazardous level in Sydney; and response workers helping combat Ebola face security challenges as deadly attacks continue.

1) [link url=”https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-naval-air-station-lockdown-suspect-custody” title=”The Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas has reopened after a lockdown early Wednesday morning”]. It is not clear what prompted the lockdown, but the lockdown stated that base residents should shelter-in-place and warned that it was not a drill. [link url=”https://www.caller.com/story/news/crime/2019/12/11/naval-air-station-corpus-christi-nas-cc-lockdown-armed-suspect-custody/4396634002/” title=”An update sent out around 8:47 a.m. indicated that a suspect was in custody”], but that the lockdown would not be lifted until the scene was deemed secure. The lockdown comes just days after a Saudi national opened fire at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, killing three U.S. soldiers and injuring eight others.

2) [link url=”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzwealand-volcano-police/new-zealand-police-say-nine-officially-listed-as-missing-after-volcano-eruption-idUSKBN1YF0JD” title=”Nine people are officially listed as being missing after a volcanic eruption”] on White Island off the coast of New Zealand. [link url=”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-volcano/tremors-worsen-on-new-zealand-volcano-island-prevent-recovery-of-bodies-idUSKBN1YE2K7″ title=”Six people were killed and another 30 were injured when the volcano suddenly erupted on Monday”]. Efforts to recover bodies from the island were halted when on Tuesday, experts at the geological agency, GeoNet, noted that increased volcanic activity was present, and the [link url=”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-volcano-geonet/new-zealand-geonet-says-tremor-activity-increases-at-white-island-volcano-idUSKBN1YF0AA” title=”probability of another eruption was 40-60 percent”].

3) One police officer was killed, two were injured, and three civilians are dead after [link url=”https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/active-shooter-situation-in-jersey-city-sources-say/2238983/” title=”two gunman opened fire at what may have been a targeted location in New Jersey”]. The shooting occurred when a police officer approached a truck believed to have been involved in a weekend murder, and the suspects opened fire on the detective, Joseph Seals, 39, who died from his injuries. The suspects fled to a Jewish market, where they [link url=”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-jersey-shooting/jersey-city-gunmen-targeted-jewish-grocery-for-lethal-attack-mayor-idUSKBN1YF0WE” title=”shot one person outside, then ran inside the store, opened fire, and killed three civilians”]. The suspects then exchanged gunfire with police and injured two officers, before the suspects were shot and killed in the stand off.

4) A recall has been issued for [link url=”https://fox8.com/2019/12/11/55000-pounds-of-frozen-el-monterey-breakfast-burritos-recalled-due-to-plastic-pieces/” title=”El Monterey breakfast burritos because they may be contaminated with foreign material”]. The recall was issued for more than 55,000 pounds of the sausage, egg, and cheese burritos after consumers complained they found plastic in them. The burritos are produced by the [link url=”https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2019/recall-119-2019-release” title=”Ruiz Food Products, Inc., in Florence, South Carolina, and were shipped to retail locations nationwide”].

5) [link url=”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-derailment-crude-canadianpacific/fires-from-cp-rail-train-derailment-under-control-safety-officials-idUSKBN1YE2FD” title=”Fires that erupted after a freight train derailed”] in Canada are now under control. The freight train, operated by Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), was carrying crude oil when it derailed west of Guernsey, Saskatchewan, on Monday. According to reports, [link url=”http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/12/09-police-hazardous-materials-crews-respond-to-cp-train-derailment-and-fire-in-saskatchewan” title=”CP emergency and Hazmat crews responded to the scene when 34 cars derailed, spilling crude oil and causing a fire”], which scorched approximately five to 10 acres.

6) [link url=”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-czech-shooting/gunman-kills-six-in-czech-hospital-waiting-room-before-shooting-himself-idUSKBN1YE0P4″ title=”A gunman opened fire in a hospital waiting room in the Czech Republic”] early Tuesday morning, killing six people. The shooter, identified as Ctirad Vitasek, was at an out-patient medical clinic in [link url=”https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50725840″ title=”Ostrava when he shot and killed six people then fled the scene”], which prompted a massive manhunt, and when cornered by police, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The victims included four men and two women, all of whom were shot at close range.

7) Smoke blanketed Sydney, Australia once again on Tuesday, [link url=”https://www.sciencealert.com/sydney-air-soars-to-12-times-hazardous-levels-under-toxic-blanket-of-bushfire-smoke” title=”pushing air quality levels to more than 12 times the hazardous level”], from the more than 100 fires that raged along the east coast. According to officials, although many are touting climate change as a factor, most of the fires were started by arsonists. Since November, [link url=”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-bushfires/hazardous-sydney-smoke-turns-up-heat-in-australias-climate-politics-idUSKBN1YF08R” title=”the brush fires have scorched at least 2.5 million acres, killed at least four people, and destroyed more than 400 homes”].

8) As the Ebola outbreak continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, violent attacks on workers are curbing efforts to contain the disease. On November 28, [link url=”https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/dec/10/ebola-responders-face-deadly-attacks-we-must-step-up-security-in-drc” title=”four workers were killed and seven injured when two key facilities in the fight against Ebola were attacked”], one in Biakato Mines and the other in Mangina. The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented approximately 390 attacks in 2019–attacks that have killed 11 and injured another 83 workers.

 

Kimberly Arsenault serves as an intern at the Cleveland/Bradley County Emergency Management Agency where she works on plan revisions and special projects. Previously, Kimberly spent 15 years in commercial and business aviation. Her positions included station manager at the former Midwest Express Airlines, as well as corporate flight attendant, inflight manager, and charter flight coordinator. Kimberly currently holds a master's degree in emergency and disaster management from American Public University.

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