Michigan is paying $13M after shooter drill terrified psychiatric hospital for kids

DETROIT—A judge has approved a $13 million settlement in a lawsuit over an unannounced active shooter drill at a Michigan psychiatric hospital for children, an event that terrified kids and staff and caused them to scramble for cover, text family and urgently call 911.

Someone at the front desk declared through a speaker system that two armed men were inside the state-run Hawthorn Center in suburban Detroit and that shots were fired, attorney Robin Wagner said.

It wasn’t true, but the message on Dec. 21, 2022, set off a frenzy.

“Everyone went into, ‘Oh my God. This is the worst day of my life,’ ” Wagner said Tuesday. “People were hiding under their desks. They were barricading the doors, trying to figure out how to protect the children.”

Police apparently didn’t know anything about a drill. Dozens of officers responding to 911 calls showed up with body armor and high-powered weapons, anticipating the worst.

Two people who were told to pose as shooters were captured, Wagner said. They were not armed.

“It was horrifying,” she said.

Fifty children at the hospital each will receive roughly $60,000. Among staff, 90 people will receive an average of more than $50,000, depending on their score on a trauma exam, Wagner said. Two dozen others will get smaller amounts.

“The state recognized that this was really a bad decision and harmed a lot of people,” Wagner said of the drill.

Court of Claims Judge James Redford approved the settlement on Oct. 4, records show. More than $3 million will go to attorneys in the case.

In 2023, when a lawsuit was filed, the state Department of Health and Human Services said the hospital was required to conduct a “hazard vulnerability analysis” to identify potential emergencies, including active shooter drills.

Spokesperson Lynn Sutfin also said the department was working with police on improving active intruder training.

She didn’t immediately respond to an email Tuesday about the settlement.

Wagner said the drill was organized by the Hawthorn Center’s safety director, who still works for the state. Hawthorn Center was subsequently closed for reasons unrelated to what happened.