ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
Four nurses who were present during a surprise security drill at a Martinsville hospital in which real, but unloaded, guns were brandished finally got police to investigate the Jan. 25 incident by attempting to swear out citizen warrants against the participants.
Five armed men wearing ski masks entered the emergency room of Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County about 4 a.m., waved their guns around and locked some nurses in a holding room. The men were staging a mock hostage-taking to test security at the hospital, but the nurses thought what was happening was real.
Three of the nurses had Floyd attorney James Shortt write to Martinsville Police Chief Dave Edwards and Commonwealth's Attorney J.R. Smith Feb. 21 to request an investigation.
In his reply, Smith said no formal complaint had been filed and to his knowledge no investigation was under way. He also said that in his personal opinion there was no evidence of criminal liability in the way the drill was conducted. The nurses heard nothing from Edwards.
On Wednesday, Lisa Meadows, Susan Martin and Karon Southerland and Holly Posey, who is represented by Danville attorney Robert Morrison Jr., went to a magistrate's office in Martinsville to swear out criminal warrants. Because the nurses did not know the identity of all the participants in the drill, the magistrate asked police to look into the incident, said Lt. Burt Sharp, head of criminal investigations.
Once the investigation is completed it will still be up to Smith to decide whether charges are warranted, Sharp said. Smith indicated Wednesday that he didn't think there was much chance of charges coming out of the investigation.
"It's obvious that these people have no interest in anything other than getting the biggest civil settlement they can get," he said.
"I have yet to talk to one person in the community who has the slightest bit of interest in this thing, except people have said it was a dumb thing to do."
Smith indicated that he did not consider the attorney's letter asking for the investigation to be an official complaint.
Morrison said he disagrees with Smith, that the letter was a complaint and that Smith ought to have to explain why it wasn't acted upon.
He said his client most of all "wants the people involved in the drill prosecuted."
The nurses said they were traumatized by the drill and may file civil suits if no action is taken.
While drills to test security and safety procedures are not uncommon in hospitals, a preliminary internal investigation also criticized the way this one was handled and said it potentially could have put staff and patients at risk. The hospital has declined to identify the men involved.
Edwards, the Martinsville police chief, told The Roanoke Times last month that he had refused to let his department help with the security test because it was being done where patients were being treated.
Because of miscommunication, police did participate, however, Edwards said.
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