On Thursday May 19th, 2022 around 9:40 a.m. Omaha Police, Omaha Fire and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a multiple victim shooting at Catholic Charities, 9223 Bedford Avenue. Upon arrival, it was found that a private security guard, John A. Channels, was conducting "active shooter training" which included firing a 9mm blank gun and actors playing the role of victims. According to the police report, Channels did not notify law enforcement agencies or neighboring businesses of the training. Catholic Charities staff also reported to law enforcement that Channels requested for their staff to not be informed of the scenario in order to produce a "fear response". Multiple employees reported that they were not aware of the scope of the training and fled the building in fear of their safety.
On August 18th, 2022, an arrest warrant for John A Channels was issued for six felonies stemming from the May 19th incident. Channels is charged with 5 counts of terroristic threats, a class 3 felony and one count of use of a deadly weapon-firearm to commit a felony, a class 1 felony according to court documents.
On August 23rd, 2022, Channels was taken into custody for the above warrant and taken to Douglas County Corrections. His first appearance is scheduled for August 25th at 1:00 p.m.
According to a Facebook comment left by Exousia Protection Agency on the Omaha Scanner post about the active shooter drill, the page stated that, "An informational flyer with all the details of this exercise were handed over in person to NSP, Douglas County, and OPD central HQ several weeks ago. The information was supposed to be disseminated to the crews working, and sent over to the dispatchers. Unfortunately, that did not occur, which is why a full response was initiated." The full comment is posted below.
