OMAHA —The Omaha man who staged an active-shooter drill in which he fired blanks at Catholic Charities’ employees said the nonprofit group wanted it to be realistic.
Erin Wetzel, attorney for John Channels, said Channels told her that he met ahead of time with a couple of directors of the Omaha charity to plan the drill. Wetzel didn’t specify who the directors were, but police reports name them as compliance director Carrie Walter and security director Mike Welna.
“It sounds like (Catholic Charities) is trying to blame him — like it was his idea to do it this way,†Wetzel said. “He says they (Catholic Charities) wanted it done that way.
“It’s important to note that several of (the directors) went along with it, and while it was happening, they were not informing employees of what was going on, even as they were asking.â€
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In a statement Wednesday, Catholic Charities said it relied on the purported expertise of Channels, who requested that he fire blanks and stage victims, complete with fake blood, around the charity’s new building at 9223 Bedford Ave. in Omaha. In his attempts to make the drill as “lifelike†as possible, Catholic Charities said, he requested that they not tell employees it was a drill.
Catholic Charities directors kept it from employees. About 9:30 a.m. May 19, Channels showed up in a dark hoodie with a dark mask on, fired into the air, banged on the windows of a conference room where a few employees had gathered, then began firing at the window. Fleeing employees ran past a woman lying on the ground with apparent bloody wounds. One female employee heard three shots behind her — and thought she was being fired upon. She jumped off a retaining wall in the hopes of hiding in a dumpster. Several described running as fast as they could. An elderly woman told police she knew she couldn’t get away. “This is it,†she recalled thinking. “I’m done.â€
Thursday, Douglas County Judge Craig McDermott set Channels’ bail at 10% of $300,000, meaning he would have to post $30,000 cash to be released. Prosecutor Jen Meckna told the judge that after terrorizing the employees, Channels went around asking if they wished they had a gun, saying he could sell them a weapon and lessons on how to use it.
The unwitting employees “were hysterical,†Meckna said. “They were in fear for their lives.â€
Catholic Charities Executive Director Denise Bartels authorized the drill after the compliance director and security director told her about it, police say. In the statement Wednesday, Bartels said charity directors didn’t know where to turn for active-shooter training and found Channels on the recommendation of their security guard.
“We deeply regret following his (the security guard's) recommendations and selecting him (Channels) for the training,†Bartels wrote. “He clearly misrepresented himself and his qualifications. He did not follow the agreed-upon procedures for the training, mishandled its implementation and did not complete the pre-training communication with Omaha police and 911 dispatchers.â€
Wetzel disputed that characterization. She told the judge that Channels, who owns a security business, dropped off advance written notice of the drill to the front desk of Omaha police, the Nebraska State Patrol and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. “He was assured at each place it would get to the appropriate person,†Wetzel said.
Wetzel said Channels was shocked to learn that front-line officers and emergency dispatchers didn’t receive information about the drill. Ten days after the drill, Channels was charged with sexual assault and possession of child pornography in a separate case involving an underage student who was taking taekwondo lessons from him. Channels denies those allegations, Wetzel said, and is awaiting trial.
In this case, Wetzel said she anticipates she will be deposing Catholic Charities directors to get to the bottom of who authorized the drill.
Channels “says they planned it together,†Wetzel said. “And they (Catholic Charities directors) were in agreement with the way it was planned.
“I think it’s important to find out information from the directors about why they wanted it to go down this way. They’re really making the effort to cover themselves because they know there’s probably civil lawsuits coming, and probably to protect their jobs.â€
A Catholic Charities spokesman declined to respond to those accusations. The spokesman said he couldn’t answer questions of whether anyone was disciplined over approving the drill, calling it a personnel matter.
Wetzel also said she anticipates challenging how the case could amount to terroristic threats, especially if it was authorized by those who hired Channels.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said prosecutors have a couple of ways to bring a terroristic threats charge. Under Nebraska law, a defendant can be charged with terroristic threats if he has the intent to terrorize another or if he threatens people with “reckless disregard of causing such terror or evacuation.â€
Kleine — who early in the week decried the drill as a “bad, bad idea†— said investigators are still digging into the planning of the drill. He said he isn’t surprised to hear of blame passing between Channels and Catholic Charities.
“I’m sure — like in any case, there’s going to be finger-pointing,†Kleine said. “Mr. Channels is responsible for his own actions. And his own actions caused the terrorizing event.â€