Drill includes wounded officer, prisoner
October 1, 1997 2 minutes read
Drill includes wounded officer, prisoner
This is the scenario used by St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith, AR, for the hostage-taking drill:
After being arrested for assaulting and robbing a 76-year-old woman in the parking lot of Central Mall, John Hood claims he has a back injury. He is transported to St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, along with three other prisoners requesting medical treatment. For Hood to be examined, the transporting officer, Billy Goode, must remove the handcuffs.
Once the handcuffs are off, Officer Goode turns and moves away so medical personnel will have room to work. At that moment, the prisoner grabs the officer’s pistol and yanks it from the holster. As the two struggle for control of the pistol, they stumble from the exam room into the hallway. The pistol discharges twice, and Goode is seriously wounded.
Hood frees the other three prisoners, including a pregnant woman. The four then take several hostages. The exact number is unknown; witnesses estimate four to six. The prisoners barricade themselves in a room and fire two or three more shots from the officer’s Glock 40. It is unknown whether anyone else has been wounded or killed. All other people in the area are thought to have evacuated safely.
Goode is still inside the building, either dead or too seriously wounded to move. When last seen, he appeared unconscious and was bleeding profusely on the floor of the central hallway. If he is still alive, he must be rescued as soon as possible.
This is the situation as Fort Smith police negotiators and SWAT team members arrive on the scene.
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