Last week I wrote about comments left by a barricade device manufacturer here on iDigHardware, and a fellow member of the BHMA CGIA reminded me of a tragic example of the potential unintended consequences of non-code-compliant security devices.

One of the concerns related to security products that do not allow free egress is the possibility that an unauthorized person could deploy the device and prevent building occupants from exiting.  When I hear of a school or other facility implementing a security plan that includes barricade devices, I think about someone taking the device that is hanging beside the door and putting it in place on the door.  With many barricade devices, this inhibits egress as well as access.

There have been several incidents of barricading doors during school shootings, but at Virginia Tech, West Nickel Mines Amish Schoolhouse, and Platte Canyon High School, the doors were barricaded by the shooter with other materials – not a commercially available barricade device.  After these events, law enforcement spoke about their difficulties in entering the building or classroom through doors that were chained or barricaded.

Sadly, there is a well-documented example of a barricade device being used by an active shooter.  In June of 2018, barricade devices were used to secure exit doors at the offices of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland.  A photo of the barricade devices that were installed by the shooter is shown in this article from the Independent.  Evidence from the trial states that the device prevented the victims from exiting via the back door as the shooter entered from the front.  Five journalists were killed.

There is more information here:

NBC News – Capital Gazette shooting: Gunman barricaded back door in ‘coordinated attack,’ prosecutor says.

The gunman who killed five people with a shotgun at an Annapolis, Maryland, newspaper office did so as part of a “coordinated attack” that included barricading the building’s back door so no one could escape, prosecutors said Friday.

WTOP News – Latest updates: Capital Gazette newspaper shooter Jarrod Ramos on trial

Another video angle shows a back entrance where employees are desperately trying to escape but find the way blocked. Before opening fire at the main entrance, Ramos had placed a “Barracuda” device under the door, which prevented employees from exiting the back door, attorneys said.

New York Times – Accused Gunman in Capital Gazette Shooting Left a Trail of Conflicts

The arraignment came as the authorities released additional details about Thursday’s shooting. Speaking outside the courtroom, Wes Adams, the Anne Arundel County state’s attorney, said that Mr. Ramos had barricaded the rear door to prevent people from fleeing and that one of the victims had tried to escape through the blocked door and was shot.

CNN – Capital Gazette shooting suspect barricaded back entrance, prosecutor says

Ramos concealed his weapon as he entered the building’s back entrance and barricaded a back door, Adams said at Ramos’ bail hearing Friday morning in an Annapolis court. The first blasts came through the building’s front door, which sent employees rushing toward the back door.  Ramos shot at least one victim who was trying to escape through the barricaded door, Adams said.  A witness earlier told CNN that she saw one of the slain victims get shot after he tried to open a back door.

The Independent – Chilling new photos emerge of Capital Gazette newspaper mass shooting-

The Anne Arundel County state’s attorney, Anne Colt Leitess, examined the amount of planning that had gone into the attack, asking a detective to show a device called a barracuda, an item used to barricade a door to make sure victims would not be able to get away.

You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.