A homicidal maniac let loose a hail of bullets in a reign of terror at the city’s only active Army base on Friday, killing four people and wounding six others before being killed himself.
Relax — it was just a test.
Officials at Fort Hamilton and emergency workers staged a three-hour long exercise at the base to test their preparedness in case a crazed gunman goes on a rampage in the otherwise quiet seaside Fort.
“We picked the active shooter idea because it is something that could happen here,” said spokeswoman Alison Kohler. “A lot of installations are choosing that since it happened at Fort Hood.”
In the exercise, the “killer” started a fire as a diversion in one building. He then went to a building that is slated to be torn down — but in the exercise served as the base’s station for processing new recruits — and blasted his victims with a paintball gun.
Carlos Pitre, who is a civilian cop on the base, acted as the shooter, and was taken down by cops after his “rampage.”
Reach reporter Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@cnglocal.com or by calling him at (718) 260-4507. You can also follow his Tweets at @dsmacleod.
