As the nation was still reeling from a massacre in Buffalo, New York, less than a week earlier, John Channels showed up at a Nebraska office building with an assault rifle holding blank cartridges and a group of actors smeared in fake blood.
Catholic Charities in Omaha, Nebraska, was set to cut the 27-year-old a $2,500 check for ambushing their building on May 19 and simulating a mass shooting that was as realistic as possible, his lawyer says.
There was one major issue, cops say: Only two people in the building knew about the active shooter drill. So, when Channels arrived firing blanks as actors covered in fake blood lay across the floor, the so-called drill quickly became a traumatizing horror show that ultimately ended with his arrest for terroristic threats.
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“We all thought there was an active shooting," Matthew Turvey, who lives near the building, told KMTV. “And it was just terrifying and, sure, it was actually quite traumatic for most of us.”
The “drill” began with Channels arriving outside the building in a dark hoodie and dark mask near a window where a meeting was taking place. Channels got the group’s attention by firing into the air and banging on the windows of the conference room, before then pointing the rifle at the window, the Omaha World-Herald reports.
Channels fired blank cartridges that recreated the same sound and muzzle flash as real bullets, cops said, despite no bullets being fired. But while the gunshots and blood were simulated, the screams were real.
Workers in the building ran for their lives while shouting, traumatized witnesses said. Those fleeing the conference room were met by a hired actor bleeding fake blood on the ground in the hallway.
Many called 911 amid the panic, while one woman—fearing for her life as gunshots rang out behind her—tried to jump into a dumpster from a retaining wall.
Employees told police they rushed to the building’s exits where they could find them, but Catholic Charities was new to the building—partially why an active shooter drill was ordered in the first place, the organization said.
One woman, described by police as elderly, told officers she didn’t think she’d make it.
“This is it,” she said, according to the World-Herald. “I’m done.”
The entire incident was reminiscent of a memorable scene from The Office, where employees panicked in fear that they were trapped inside their burning building, but soon realized it was part of a deranged drill organized by an employee.
But this incident was real-life, not a TV bit. And those outside the building feared the worst when they heard the sound of gunshots ringing out.
Cops said they weren’t alerted to the drill ahead of time and responded as if it were a legitimate crime scene. They later arrested Channels on five charges of making terroristic threats and a separate gun count. Channels appeared in court for the first time on Thursday, where a judge placed his bail at $300,000.
“Police came, they didn't know this was happening,” said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine. “They thought it was a real active shooter. There were people calling 911.”
Prosecutors have said Channels is lucky nobody was seriously injured in the ordeal, himself included.
“Somebody could have had a firearm there and used it,” Klein said. “Someone could have had a heart attack, that was, you know, because of the fright factor, or fell or hurt themselves in that manner.”
As the ordeal settled down, prosecutor Jen Meckna said Thursday that Channels went around asking “hysterical” employees if they wished they had a gun. If they said yes, he then suggested they could purchase one from him—complete with lessons.
Erin Wetzel, the attorney for Channels, told The Daily Beast on Friday that the chaos inflicted by her client was exactly what Catholic Charities ordered.
Wetzel said Friday that supervisors wanted the exercise to “be real life-like” and hired Channels from a positive referral their security guard gave them after hearing of Channel’s security work at the nearby Offutt Air Force Base.
The attorney claims that Channels explained his chilling exercise to the supervisors ahead of time in detail—including a request that employees be kept in the dark about the drill—and they OK’d it.
Keeping the exercise a surprise was successful. Unknowing employees told KMTV they were informed an “active threat” exercise was scheduled for that Thursday, but they thought that meant a PowerPoint and speaker—not traumatizing gunfire.
Catholic Charities has since denied asking for the drill to be so elaborate. It claimed in a statement on Wednesday that Channels “clearly misrepresented himself and his qualifications,” and that he did not “follow the agreed-upon procedures”—one of which was alerting law enforcement to the drill.
“We deeply regret following his recommendations and selecting him for the training,” Executive Director Denise Bartels said.
Channels, who owns a security company, attempted to alert law enforcement to the drill ahead of time, Wetzel said. He delivered written notice to Omaha police, the Nebraska State Patrol, and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, she said.
“He was assured at each place it would get to the appropriate person,” Wetzel said.
Wetzel says she plans to depose supervisors at Catholic Charities to find out exactly whose idea the drill was. If she can prove Channels wasn’t the mastermind, she says Channels shouldn’t be prosecuted for making terroristic threats—a charge under Nebraska law that’s issued when “terror or evacuation” is inflicted.
Channels was taken into custody before he was able to get Wetzel proof in writing that Catholic Charities ordered the drill, the attorney said Friday. Wetzel says she plans to work with family and friends to get copies.
The drill incident isn’t the only thing that’s landed Channels in hot water, however. The 27-year-old also faces charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl and producing child pornography, which he was arrested for in May, cops say.
“I’m sure—like in any case, there’s going to be finger-pointing,” Kleine said, according to the World-Herald. “Mr. Channels is responsible for his own actions. And his own actions caused the terrorizing event.”
