A civilian employee with the Navy on Wednesday admitted to falsely reporting an active shooter at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst New Jersey Air Base.
Base emergency protocols were activated, and law enforcement officials arrived on the scene on Tuesday after Malika Brittingham said she heard five to six gun shots.
Brittingham first reported the alleged shots in a text message to her co-worker who she told she was hiding in a closet along with others, according to a criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors.
Eventually prosecutors say she recanted the story, admitting she falsely reported an active shooter on campus after feeling excluded by her coworkers, according to the complaint. Brittingham said she and her colleagues could “trauma bond” over the shared experience, the complaint said.
Prosecutors are charging Brittingham for knowingly conveying false information about an active shooter who didn’t exist.
She was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon, according to NBC 10.
“This kind of senseless fear-mongering and disruption will not be tolerated in my state,” Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, wrote in a post on X.
“After everything this country has gone through, especially in light of current events, I will be sure to bring down the hammer of the law for anyone found guilty of creating unnecessary panic and undermining public trust.”
