Worker sues after Catholic charity sends armed man into office in active shooter drill

An employee of Catholic Charities of Omaha is suing the organization, saying she was traumatized by gunshots and a masked man brandishing a gun who ran into her office in what turned out to be an active shooter drill, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

On May 19, gunshots rang out as the man holding a semiautomatic handgun entered the organization's office, causing panic. At least one person pretending to be wounded laid on the ground smeared with fake blood. According to police, executives were aware of the staged drill but played along while employees thought they were being attacked.

Sandra Lopez, a bilingual loan officer who still works at the organization, says Catholic Charities executive director Denise Bartels told her “it is a shooting" after doing nothing to calm her fears.

Lopez was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She still suffers from a back injury from jumping off a retaining wall while trying to get away. “She has and continues to suffer debilitating fear, depression, unwanted and intrusive memories of that day and other symptoms,” the lawsuit states.

The fake gunman, John Channels, was arrested after the drill on five charges of "terroristic threats and one count of weapon use in connection with acting out the shooting and firing blanks," the World-Herald previously reported. Catholic Charities said Channels planned the drill and told leadership not to tell employees its real nature. But Channels claims it was leadership who insisted the employees be left out of the loop.

The lawsuit states that after Lopez escaped the building, she found refuge at a nearby cafe where her son came to meet her. When her son called Bartels to let her know his mother was safe, the Bartels told him that the shooting was “play acting and a safety drill.” When her baffled son asked why his mother wasn't told the shooting was staged, Bartels replied, “We wanted to see how people reacted."

“Denise Bartels and Dave Vankat all knew this in advance and acted out their parts to terrify Plaintiff Sandra Lopez and other employees not given a warning of the planned ‘drill,’” the lawsuit alleges.

“There’s a difference between intentionally doing something wrong and intentionally intending the harm that results from it,” Lopez's attorney Tom White said. “If an employer can intend to harm you and then they’re protected by the limits of workers’ comp ... think about it. You can go to work and your employer can intend to harm you and pretty much escape from civil liability because depending on the nature of the harm, it’s limited by workers’ comp.”

“Did they intend to create fear in her mind that she could be shot? The answer we would say is absolutely they did,” White said. “We do so allege that they specifically intended to terrorize Ms. Lopez.”