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Lapeer County to form five‑member review panel after false active‑shooter alert
Summary
County officials said a false active‑shooter alert triggered an evacuation at the courthouse July 2; the county administrator announced a five‑member internal review panel and deputies and staff were praised for their response.
Lapeer County officials announced a five‑member internal review panel after a false active‑shooter alert prompted employees to hide and barricade inside the county courthouse on July 2.
County Administrator said the panel will include county employees with expertise in information technology, law enforcement, emergency management and communications and will “determine the exact sequence of events” that produced the false alarm and recommend how to prevent a recurrence.
The review follows a chaotic but injury‑free incident that county officials said exposed gaps in systems while also testing emergency training. “They immediately went to their places, to hide and barricade. They did it quickly. They did it quietly,” the sheriff told commissioners when describing staff and deputies’ reactions. The sheriff added, “I couldn’t be prouder of how the county reacted,” and praised deputies and other first responders for their roles.
The county administrator told the board that 911 records show four city officers arrived within two to three minutes and were on the third floor within about four minutes, a clarification offered after reports that response took longer. No one was injured, the county said.
Commissioners discussed the need to understand whether the event was caused by an internal systems failure or vendor equipment. The sheriff said he believed the problem appeared to be with the vendor’s equipment and that the county must get answers from outside firms as well as from internal systems.
Instead of a formal vote, the administrator announced the panel and said it would produce recommendations for changes to training, technology and procedures. Commissioners asked that the findings include specific steps to reduce the chance of a repeat incident and to address how the courthouse’s security systems — including keycard access and screening equipment — function during an alarm.
Next steps: the panel will report its findings and recommendations to the board; the county has not set a public deadline for that report.
