Prosecutors: Shooting Hoax Was Effort to Bond at Work

A scare about a supposed shooting that prompted a lockdown at New Jersey's largest military base was a hoax caused by a civilian employee who wanted to "trauma bond" with her colleagues, according to federal prosecutors. Malika Brittingham, a civilian who works for the Naval Air Warfare Center and was assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon and faces charges that she knowingly conveyed false information about an active shooter who didn't exist, according to a criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors.

The AP reports the lockdown order was issued shortly before 11am Tuesday at the sprawling base, which is among the nation's largest military installations. According to a criminal complaint, Brittingham allegedly texted someone around 10:15am, writing that a shooter was on the base, that she'd heard five or six shots, and that she was hiding in a closet with co-workers. The person she texted then called the base's operation center and 911, relaying what Brittingham told her, the complaint stated. That prompted the lockdown order, officials said. The lockdown lasted about an hour before base officials determined there was no shooter.

According to prosecutors, Brittingham told investigators she carried out the hoax because she had been "ostracized by her co-workers and hoped that their shared experience in response to an active shooter would allow them to 'trauma bond,'" the complaint said. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst spans 42,000 acres and combines Air Force, Army, and Navy functions, with more than 42,000 service members, relatives, and civilian employees.