For the Sheriffs, deputies, police officers, bailiffs and security personnel, there is an on-going concern with preventing weapons in a courthouse environment and keeping all of the people who work therein, as well as all the courthouse guests, safe. There are a couple of locations related to law enforcement and government that we, as a society, usually just assume to be safe. State houses, federal buildings and courthouses are usually in that list of assumed safe places. On Wednesday, September 19, 2018 when shots rang out in front of the Masontown Borough Municipal Center, which also housed the courts for that area, it took everyone by surprise.
Initial reports conflicted as to whether the shooter, Patrick S. Dowdell, entered the building or not. Some witnesses said he actually walked all the way into a courtroom and brandished his weapon. Other reports said that he never entered the building at all. One state police lieutenant reported that Dowdell entered the buildings main lobby but never got past that point.
Dowdell was reported to have either entered the building or approached it at approximately 2pm. Upon seeing him with a weapon, he was confronted by a sergeant on the scene and shots were exchanged. The sergeant was wounded sufficiently to withdraw from the fight. Dowdell then went on to shoot three other people: two men and one woman. Another police officer then arrived on scene and shot Dowdell who was declared dead on the scene.
All four shooting victims were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The police sergeant was described as “in good condition.” The other three victims were a 47 year old man, a 35 year old man and a 39 year old woman.
Post event investigation revealed that Dowdell was due to be in court that day to face felony assault charges on his wife. It was alleged that he had wrapped a belt around her neck and tried to strangle her. According to reports, 39 year old Crystal Dowdell posted on Facebook about being present at the scene, the police having confiscated her phone and nothing further. She did not indicate whether or not she was injured and no further information has been made publicly available as to the identity of the 39 year old female shooting victim. Pennsylvania state police did confirm that the shooter, Dowdell, was Mrs. Dowdell’s husband.
Evidence of a motive discovered in the post-event investigation indicated Dowdell may simply have been at the end of his rope, desperate and with nowhere to go. One friend of his reported that he was living in his truck, had no money and was without a place to live otherwise. Estranged from his wife and facing a felony assault charge, Dowdell may have intended to go out “in a blaze of glory,” while trying or intending to take his wife with him.
This event is an example of how an attack can occur in areas we normally assume to be safe and secure. At nearly every courthouse and government building you’ll go through security check points with magnetometers or x-ray scanning devices (or both). What we have to understand is that people can come through the doors armed and ready to attack. If they can get past the security check point then they have access to the full interior of the building until they are neutralized.
In this, courthouses are almost like schools. While there is a decent population of law enforcement officers usually on hand inside a courthouse while court is in session, the rest of the population is largely unarmed and unable to react to an attack beyond the usually taught “run, hide, fight,” protocol. It behooves us, in such situations, to be aware of our surroundings, alert to a threat, and having already identified what is cover, what is concealment and where the nearest exits are.
The good news is that there were no fatalities in this attack beyond the shooter himself. Four wounded, however, is four too many. There isn’t much anyone could have done to prevent this except to be alert for Dowdell’s arrival if any threat was anticipated. Perhaps, in cases of violent domestic court cases, we need to do a better job of making sure the security personnel are alerted and looking for the defendants before they even get through the front door? That would probably require more manpower than most courthouses have available.
Joshua Borelli
Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.
