The appearance of officers in tactical gear carrying assault rifles, however, startled the few city employees who still work in the Municipal Center building. Information Technology staff complained they could hear yelling and barking on the upper floors while they were trying to work on the first floor, giving some flashbacks to May 31 when police helped them escape the building.
“Just seeing someone in SWAT gear can make someone jumpy after what happened on the 31st,” said one employee, who spoke to The Pilot on the condition of anonymity.
He said he understands police need places to conduct training. But he said he would prefer officers use the building when the employees are not there.
City police spokeswoman Linda Kuehn said Wednesday morning she was not aware of the training. She said she would look into it.
Capt. John Thomas “J.T.” Orr emailed IT staff around 2 p.m. to apologize. He said police did reach out to a designated point of contact for Building 2 prior to the training exercise and notified the City Manager’s Office and Emergency Communications.
“I am sorry if we caused anyone any distress,” Orr wrote, according to a copy of the email provided to The Virginian-Pilot by a city employee. “We do not anticipate utilizing any Municipal Center buildings for any police training during normal business hours for the foreseeable future.”
On May 31, a longtime city engineer shot 16 people in the building — 12 fatally. Police responded to the attack and ultimately killed the gunman.
More than 10 city employees still work in the building, which is next door to City Hall and accessible to only select individuals. The remaining staff are expected to move to a new location early next year when the city begins demolishing the inside of the building. A new police headquarters is expected to takeover the building.
Todd Grissom, a systems analyst for the city who works on the first floor, said police have been using the site for training on and off for more than a month and no one has given lower level staff prior warning.
Grissom had not yet arrived at the office on Wednesday when police showed up, but he received messages from his coworkers who were upset about it.
He said the city has been insensitive to the workers who were not mentally prepared to see SWAT in full gear on Wednesday. Grissom escaped the building May 31 without physical injuries.
Grissom decided to avoid the office on Wednesday after his boss sent an email shortly before 9:30 a.m. saying staff could work from home due to the police training.
“When they show up out of the blue, it does tend to cause anxiety amongst staff," Grissom said. "This disregard is a little hurtful.”
Alissa Skelton, 757-222-5155, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com
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