The active shooter drill marked the first of its kind inside the Veterans Courthouse in Newark
NEWARK -- The situation was about as real as it gets.
With a jury trial underway for a defendant in custody, two armed individuals entered the area from a nearby stairwell and opened fire in an attempt to free the defendant, causing multiple causalities and injuries.
As law enforcement authorities responded to the scene, those individuals were shot and killed. The defendant held a person hostage in a bathroom, where a tactical team rushed inside to apprehend him. Medical personnel provided treatment to the injured victims.
That scenario played out Friday morning as part of an active shooter drill on the 11th floor of the Veterans Courthouse in Newark, marking the first security exercise of its kind inside the building.
The operation, overseen by the Essex County Sheriff's Office, involved more than 1,000 people, including court employees and officers from various law enforcement agencies. As the shooting unfolded, workers were on lockdown in offices throughout the rest of the building.
Officials praised the law enforcement response during the drill, and said they would identify any areas for improvement.
"You did your job well," Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura told sheriff's officers and other law enforcement personnel during a briefing after the drill, adding "whatever we didn't do right, we're going to do it right next time."
Fontoura then reminded them about the 1993 fatal shooting of Newark Detective John Sczyrek inside the courthouse. At that time, a probation clerk smuggled a gun inside the building and passed it to man, who shot Sczyrek as he was about to testify at a drug trial of the man's brother and his cousin.
"We had a police officer assassinated upstairs," Fontoura said. "We want to make sure that that doesn't happen again."
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Essex County Assignment Judge Sallyanne Floria said in an interview she was "very impressed" with Friday's drill and said "there's always room for improvement."
Citing the "culture of security" within the state judiciary, Floria said officials were planning to conduct future drills to ensure the safety of court employees and the public in New Jersey's largest vicinage.
"It's important, because we all need to prepare for the worst," Floria said. "We need to ensure the safety of everyone who enters this building, including the workers and the public.
Lt. Edward Esposito of the sheriff's department, one of the drill's organizers, said the goal of Friday's operation was for law enforcement personnel to apply their training to a life-like event.
"They were being shot at. They were shooting," Esposito said. "This is as real as it gets without...really being involved in it.
"I think everybody completed the critical tasks to make themselves safe and secure, given the threat that they were faced against," Esposito added.
The particular scenario used - involving the hostage situation and the two armed individuals - was selected because it was challenging and involved multiple threats to deal with simultaneously, Esposito said.
As part of the scenario, someone played the role of a concerned person who has a relative in the building, learns about the incident on social media and tries to enter the courthouse, Esposito said. With the building locked down, that person was prevented from coming inside, he said.
"Their goal was to challenge the security to get into the building," said Esposito, adding that "we have to train people not only to respond to the threat, but to maintain the integrity of the security of the building."
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.