JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST – A short lockdown at the Joint base on the morning of September 30 concerning an alleged active shooter was the result of a civilian employee there who was found to have made a false report.
According to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint, Malika Brittingham, who works for the U.S. Navy, wanted to create a police response that she expected to create closer ties with her co-workers.
The complaint noted that “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’.”
It further stated that 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 co-workers.
The recipient of the texts, identified only as “Individual 1,” called 911 and the Base Defense Operations Center. Base staff responded by implementing their active shooter protocol, advising employees to move to designated shelter-in-place locations, according to the affidavit.
Base officials were notified at 10:58 a.m. and emergency protocols were initiated and law enforcement arrived, the base said in a statement.
Authorities then determined no active shooter threat was substantiated and the base resumed normal operations at 11:57 a.m. Brittingham was questioned around 11:45 a.m. by investigators and she initially denied contacting the individual before the shelter-in-place order.
The time of the calls didn’t support her account of the story and Brittingham provided her reason for the false alarm, the affidavit stated.
The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office said “a third-party call resulted in a precautionary measure being put in place” in an alert update. The sheriff’s office did not elaborate.
“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,” the account stated.
She is employed by the U.S. Navy Warfare Center in Patuxent River, Maryland, but is physically assigned to a workspace at the Joint Base, according to the affidavit. Her age and hometown were not immediately available. According to the complaint, the case has been assigned to U.S. Magistrate Brendan Day.
