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The hospital’s internal emergency protocols were activated instantly. An automated “Active Shooter” alert was broadcast across internal systems and sent to the mobile devices of employees and residents in the surrounding area. The message was stark and unequivocal: “ACTIVE SHOOTER reported near Troy Corewell Health Beaumont Hospital. AVOID the area and SHELTER in place.” Inside the building, nurses, doctors, and support staff followed their training, barricading doors with heavy medical equipment and huddling in darkened rooms. The psychological toll of such an event in a healthcare setting is profound; a medical assistant described the jarring experience of arriving for a shift only to be met by a screaming coworker telling her to get back into her car. Seeing lines of police officers with rifles drawn moving through a parking garage is an image that shatters the fundamental sense of security one expects at their workplace.
