don't reach for anything stop reaching
get on the ground
your hands are funny just like that
when dispatchers of the Northville
Township Police Department received
multiple 9-1-1 calls from a local
children's psychiatric hospital just
four days before Christmas of 2022 they
immediately gathered that something was
alarmingly different this time around
while they'd become somewhat accustomed
to incoming reports of missing or
escaped patients having received over a
dozen since 2020 the calls that came in
on this day revealed a harrowing
situation that was unfolding right
before their eyes hi I'm at 18471 I
already wrote the assistant report of an
active intruder at Hawthorne Center okay
you said there was a port of an
we have officers on the way just let me
know if you hear or see anything okay
it was absolutely shocking active
Shooters didn't just pop up at
Children's Hospitals like Hawthorne
Center but as more calls filtered in
from the terrified staff the ntpd were
forced into action they sent out a
desperate call for all available units
to head to 18471 Hagerty Road
immediately
do you see him no okay where did does
anybody see him at all no I don't know
I'm not sure so nobody has seen them I
don't know I don't know
the first police vehicles that arrived
belong to two sets of Partners they
automatically split up to cover both
entrances of the hospital in the car by
the south entrance we have officer
Conrad and Sergeant MacArthur in the
second car which heads to the east we
have officer key and officer chilada
both sets of officers immediately get
out to Don their heavy gear the term
used to describe the thick green
bulletproof vests helmets and shields
worn by officers and events such as this
they take cover behind their vehicles to
survey the building moments after
getting out of their car officer Conrad
and Sergeant MacArthur spot movement
[Applause]
on the grills
get on the ground
hold on
I got radio I got radio
Baker 2 radio
go ahead
we have two subjects prone out in the
front it seems the two suspects might
have just been located officers get
behind cover to interact with them but
it seems something is slightly off do
you work here
what's your name
have your body crawl out towards you
the guy to your right have him crawl
towards you
who is that
officer key and officer chalada can just
barely hear and see their colleagues
confront the two suspects when they run
into their own pair of surprises
so Reiki should come in behind us see
that guy just exited
[ __ ] towards us
stop moving
lay down on the ground I think 40
dispatch
two employees just exited the South
doors we have them proned out
now there are four men officers aren't
sure which are the alleged gunmen or if
there are additional gunmen previously
unseen by witnesses as more police cars
arrive on scene Sergeant MacArthur and
officer Conrad cautiously approached the
first two men where they lay on the
ground put your palms up turn your head
to your left
there you go buddy don't move okay
do either one of you have weapons on you
okay do you understand what is going on
now okay well tell me what's going on
why are we here somebody called an
active Intruder which
do you have a right stop it as a drill
okay apparently somebody did not do what
they you know they did what they were
supposed to do okay but this was
unannounced
okay did any of you have weapons on you
no okay was the drill supposed to be
with weapons they are reported as two
ARP right here okay that's why we're
here okay does that make sense
okay it is two of my Personnel that are
the where where are they at right now
without texting them or calling them
ideas
okay understood Burger do me a favor I
want you to pull this car up on this
grass as we have coverage and stuff over
here really fast please you guys do not
have keys to the facility so you can
take my ring if you want okay well I'm
I'm kind of I'm kind of believing you
what's going on okay bud we just need to
double check boss it's nothing personal
you understand right this is real okay
all right Burger stop you're good you're
good guys look like that one is an
African-American male named Brandon the
other one's Hawk he's a white male
they're both about six foot six foot one
yep both wearing the winter coat
Brandon's wearing a stock hat okay how
how'd they get into the building hey for
our scenario they got into the building
from that dock door that was propped
open because one of the staff left okay
left the door open okay so that's how
they got in the facility okay can we
call them to have them have them come to
the front how did it come to us as they
had weapons
we made an announcement to say that you
know this is the people here that have
weapons so somebody called 100 right yes
I should as they should okay yeah but
again the last adds up too the last time
I was told by MSP yeah don't worry about
calling and do your guys's drill because
they call 911 so that's 100 you can see
the trooper way down there so they're
not
so that's why they weren't aware of it
as well so the next time I'm not going
to take msp's advice and just no you
need to call on that because you
probably have about
50 cop cars here right now
and you probably don't like getting put
on the ground in the cold earth guns
pointed at you you guys got to do what
you gotta dude I'm not mad at that at
all I meant these guys will not
answering the phone or the radio but
there's a reason they're not answering
the calls
don't reach for anything
no you understand
I don't care
right there slowly move your jacket so I
can see your waistline do you understand
do it now okay put your hands on top of
your head and slowly walk towards the
side of my voice do it now he carefully
instructs the two men revealed by the
manager to be two members of Staff
Brandon Woodruff and Hawk Kennedy
Woodruff and Kennedy are handcuffed as a
precaution
this year we're just walking around
the responsibility dead
and despite the seriousness of the
situation both seem to be in relatively
High Spirits hey we got the two on the
North side detained
excited tune Bakers who are making
contact with management
today's money bro
eventually Sergeant MacArthur is sent
into the building to talk to the staff
about the incident when speaking with
the director of the Hawthorne Center he
discovers one last bit of information
are you in charge right now
okay perfect
well the one your wife well you look
very serious well we're
concerning when we get a 911 there's an
active threat yeah and then we learn
that it's possibly a drill this is a
drill apparently when we get calls from
9-1-1 especially a facility like this
saying there's an active shooter inside
people with weapons and if it's a drill
that needs to be relayed to us before
before you have 300 policemen coming
here putting everyone in danger to get
here
can I apologize enough okay and you can
confirm this is this is the drill
yes this is a drill absolutely was it
was it was there memos and beforehand
sayings
that we were going to have a drill okay
yeah did you say what kind of role it
was going to be active Intruder yeah we
didn't announce this one because we've
ran announcements before and we're
around you I don't know okay I was doing
it on and off one because we haven't
done it in a little while to see how
they would work
internally yes not you guys no right
right hey 100 I was on the ground okay
good
um
they reacted the way they're supposed to
which is surprising because the first
time they actually called 9-1-1 anytime
okay many of the parents and staff
attempted to sue Hawthorne Center for
what they alleged were serious breaches
of protocol and failure to adequately
protect their staff and patients Brandon
Woodruff one of the fake Intruders was
especially affected given how dangerous
the situation was and how it could have
ended much differently as it turns out
the state of Michigan had been
investigating the facility for months
prior to this due to the history of
escaping patients those dozen calls that
were mentioned previously wound up being
confirmed as 17 escaped patients between
2020 and 2022 allegedly the facility
might have been so understaffed that it
was having a hard time keeping track of
all patients as of July 2023 the
Michigan Department of Health and Human
Services and the department of
technology management and budget have
announced that the Hawthorne Center will
be closing permanently and will be torn
down to make room for an all-new
state-of-the-art replacement facility
which is set to open in 2026