First Responders: Radios Failed During Navy Yard Shooting
Technical snafu adds extra layer of mystery to Navy Yard shooting’s questionable events
Adan Salazar
Prison Planet.com
Sept. 21, 2013
In a report that has gone virtually unnoticed in the mainstream press, D.C. police and firefighters who first arrived to assist at the Washington Navy Yard earlier this week say they were frustrated when their radios failed during inspection of the building, adding yet another strange development to the already questionable set of circumstances that took place that day.
A union representative for the first responders said, “Initially, officers found that their radios were working. But as they ventured deeper into the building where the shooting took place, their equipment stopped functioning,” according to a report from The Hill.
Instead, officers were forced to rely on their cell phones to communicate with one another, a detail the chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police Naval District Washington Labor Committee, Anthony Meely, says was “unnecessary and sad.”
“They had to use their cellphone to just call out and tell them what’s going on,” Meely said.
Meely said he was disgusted by news that the team had to use cell phones, but that faulty radios were “a known issue” on the base, and that they were notorious for not being able to function properly within buildings, in addition to having batteries that could never sustain charge.
“…what could they do if the radios weren’t working?” asked Meely, adding “…that was the only way for them to call and get them some help.”
Additionally, firefighters were having the same problems with their radios. “The incident commander from Naval District Washington was not able to communicate from his position inside the building to fire units outside of the building. He was not able to communicate with his subordinate units outside of the building,” Greg Russell, president of the National Capital Federal Firefighters, said.
Although this may merely have been a technical snafu, it adds an extra layer of mystery to an already convoluted story that has only gotten stranger.
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