Employee at New Jersey military base lied about an active shooter to ‘trauma bond’ with coworkers, federal officials said
Malika Brittingham, who works for the U.S. Navy, wanted to prompt a police response that she expected to create closer ties with coworkers, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint.
A civilian employee at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst made a false report of an active shooter that put the military compound in lockdown Sept. 30, authorities said.
Malika Brittingham, who works for the U.S. Navy, wanted to prompt a police response that she expected to create closer ties with her coworkers, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint.
“Brittingham explained that she carried out this hoax because she had been ostracized by her coworkers and hoped that their shared experience in response to an active shooter would allow them to ‘trauma bond,’” the complaint said.
It said Brittingham started sending texts at approximately 10:45 a.m. that claimed an active shooter was on the base, that she had heard five or six gunshots and that she was hiding in a closet with coworkers.
The recipient of the texts, identified only as “Individual 1,” believed the messages and called 911 and the Base Defense Operations Center.
Base staff implemented their active-shooter protocol, advising employees to move to designated shelter-in-place locations, the affidavit said. Authorities then determined the active-shooter claim was untrue.
Investigators questioned Brittingham at approximately 11:45 a.m., when she initially denied contacting the individual before the shelter-in-place order.
When the time of the calls didn’t support that account, Brittingham gave her reason for the false alarm, the affidavit said.
“Brittingham admitted that she intentionally conveyed false information about an active shooter on base to Individual 1, believing that (he) would call the police to initiate a police response, which he did,” it said.
Brittingham is employed by the Naval Air Warfare Center in Maryland, but is physically assigned to a workspace at the South Jersey base, according to the affidavit.
She was charged with knowingly conveying false and misleading information related to the use of firearms at a federal facility, a criminal complaint said.
The hoax charge was only an allegation. Brittingham has not been convicted in the case.