First Person: Active Shooter

They are the two words that send a chill through the newsroom"  "active shooter."  The scanners, the internet, the phones and everything else blew up a little after 8 Tuesday morning.  Active shooter, Paradise Township Municipal Building.  Photographer Corey and I jumped in a truck and headed to Monroe County.  Police set up a roadblock miles away from the scene.  A State Trooper directed us to a media staging area, and that's where we went.

Thanks to a bend in the road and some trees, it was impossible to get a good look at the scene from where we were penned in.

Corey launched Skycam 16, so that took care of our video issues.

Eventually, there was a briefing from State Police.  It wasn't much, but it was something.  By now, you know the details, so there is no need to rehash the tragedy here.

After the briefing, it was back to the truck to prepare something for Newswatch 16 at Noon.  I banged out a script on my laptop and sent it back to the station.  I can't say there weren't challenges.  We depend on cell phones quite a bit these days, even transmission of video.  This part of Monroe County does not enjoy strong cellular service.  However, we were in a satellite truck.  The dish found the bird, and we were in business.

By the way, thanks to the staff at the near by Crescent Lodge.  Your men's room was greatly appreciated, and I wasn't the only media member who benefited from your kindness.

Our noon report went off without a hitch.  We even stayed a few minutes late to do something for the new ABC News streaming service, ABC News Live.  That was a first for me.

The day ended with the story being handed over to our Pocono beat reporter, Carmella Mataloni, who did outstanding things during the evening Newswatch 16 editions.

It was a sad story that presented a few challenges.  My sympathy to the victim and his family.  My thanks to my coworkers.