Federal employee caused shooter hoax to bond with co-workers, prosecutors say

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A scare about a supposed shooting that prompted a lockdown at New Jersey’s largest military base was a hoax caused by a civilian employee who wanted to “trauma bond” with her colleagues, according to federal prosecutors.

Malika Brittingham, a civilian who works for the Naval Air Warfare Center and was assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, faces charges that she knowingly conveyed false information about an active shooter who didn't exist, according to a criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors.

Brittingham was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon, and a telephone number for her could not be located Wednesday. It wasn't known Wednesday if she's retained an attorney.

The lockdown order was issued shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday at the sprawling base, which is among the nation’s largest military installations. According to a criminal complaint, Brittingham allegedly texted someone around 10:15 a.m., writing that a shooter was on the base, that she had heard five or six shots and that she was hiding in a closet with co-workers.

The person she texted then called the base’s operation center and 911, relaying what Brittingham told her, the complaint stated. That prompted the lockdown order, officials said. The lockdown lasted about an hour before base officials determined there was no shooter.

“This kind of senseless fear-mongering and disruption will not be tolerated in my state,” the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, said on social media. “After everything this country has gone through, especially in light of current events, I will be sure to bring down the hammer of the law for anyone found guilty of creating unnecessary panic and undermining public trust.”

According to prosecutors, Brittingham told investigators she carried out the hoax because she had been “ostracized by her co-workers and hoped that their shared experience in response to an active shooter would allow them to ‘trauma bond,’” the complaint said.

The U.S. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst spans 42,000 acres (17,000 hectares) and combines Air Force, Army and Navy functions with more than 42,000 service members, relatives and civilian employees.

The incident unfolded as U.S. military leaders gathered at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had summoned them from around the world to hear him declare an end to “woke” culture in the armed forces, among other Trump administration priorities.