Security Overreaction
Who needs terrorists? We can cause terror all by ourselves:
A worker at a Downtown building who was using a pellet gun with a scope to scare pigeons prompted a massive police response that led to the shutdown of several blocks this afternoon.
[…]
Dozens of motorcycle and special response officers responded to the area.
The Fort Pitt Tunnels inbound were shut down temporarily.
The Port Authority was forced to reroute buses around the area.
People in some buildings were told to stay inside while those in others were evacuated.
Students who attend Pittsburgh High School for the Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA High) remained in their Fort Duquesne Boulevard school this afternoon until the situation was resolved.
The All-City Senior Orchestra rehearsal scheduled for 4 p.m. at CAPA High has been canceled.
Students who attend all other Pittsburgh Public Schools have been dismissed since Port Authority buses and school buses that normally travel through Downtown were being re-routed.
Community College of Allegheny County canceled evening classes at its Downtown center tonight on Stanwix Street.
Before the all-clear was given and roads were reopened, police searched buildings floor-by-floor looking for the gunman and stationed snipers in surrounding buildings.
Steve • March 24, 2006 8:26 AM
I wonder whether the police (etc.) will record this internally as a security failure, and introduce measures to avoid similar failures in future, or just put it down to the real terrorists “making” everyone twitchy.
Here in the UK, of course, the authorities would seriously consider “solving” the problem by banning pellet guns. This turns a false positive into a true positive and hence a failure into a success.