(WWJ) The State of Michigan will pay $13 million in a settlement of a lawsuit over an unannounced active shooter drill at a psychiatric treatment facility for children in Northville Township.
When the incident happened in 2022 at Hawthorn Center, on Haggerty Rd., even local police didn't know about the drill.
Robin Wagner, an attorney for the plaintiffs — which included patients and staff at the psychiatric hospital — says an announcement about two armed men in the building terrified kids and employees, causing them to scramble for cover, hide under desks, text their families, and call 911.
"It was an overwhelming and frightening long-term impact kind of event on the people," Wagner told WWJ Newsradio 950's Beth Fisher.
Per the settlement in the Michigan Court of Claims, 50 children at the hospital each will receive roughly $60,000. Among staff, 24 people will receive $6,000, and 90 people will receive an average of more than $50,000, depending on their score on a trauma exam.
"The settlement does not have the state admitting any liability," Wagner said. "But we credit the state with realizing early on that this was an incident that did cause a lot of injury to a lot of their staff and patients. And, so they came to the table quickly."
The safety director who set up the drill still works for the state.
