Autolycus
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http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/07/04/news/doc486d464896395153567208.txt
What would you have done?
Lockdown ends at State Farm; sighting was of custodian
The police charge into State Farm Corporate Headquarters after a report of an intruder BlooomingtonThursday afternoon (July 3, 2008). (Pantagraph/B Mosher)
Thursday, July 3, 2008 11:28 PM CDT
By Sharon K. Wolfe and Edith Brady-Lunny
[email protected] | [email protected]
BLOOMINGTON -- A gun scare at State Farm Corporate Headquarters ended peacefully Thursday afternoon after a suspected gunman turned out to be a custodian carrying what may have been a pipe on his shoulder. | Photo gallery | Video
Still it gave an estimated 2,000 people at State Farm Insurance Cos.’ headquarters near Veterans Parkway and Washington Street a late start on their Fourth of July holiday weekend. They were ushered into the building’s lower level for almost two hours while police searched the building and grounds.
A passer-by reported seeing a man with a “long gun” about 4 p.m. outside Building E, often called the Tower, the tallest part of the headquarters complex, police said.
As police teams searched the 300,000-square-foot building, officials reviewed video from company video cameras. Ultimately they determined the scare was unfounded.
“What was seen by the passer-by was a custodian holding some sort of black, cylindrical object such as a pipe (slung over his shoulder) … so it looked to the passer-by like it may have been a weapon,” said Bloomington police spokesman Duane Moss about 5:45 p.m.
Employees were released about 5:45 p.m., and officials organized an orderly exit for the employees. They were allowed to return to their workspaces to get their belongings, and police directed employee vehicles out of the company parking lots.
Dozens of police officers from area agencies were joined at the scene by officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other emergency agencies.
The activity surprised at least one employee who was leaving as the event began. He left the building moments before an announcement inside directed workers to the basement, and he walked into police tactical teams setting up a perimeter.
“I saw an officer with an assault rifle. I froze. He just kept staring at the building,” said the employee, who declined to give his name.
He couldn’t get his car, so he called his wife to pick him up at Eastland Mall.
Joe Strupek, State Farm assistant vice president of public affairs, estimated 2,000 employees were in the basement during the floor-by-floor, room-by-room search.
Workers at State Farm’s Corporate South, which is about a mile south of the headquarters, also were sent to the basement of their building a little after 4 p.m. but were allowed to leave soon after.
State Farm spokesman Fraser Engerman said a system error mistakenly announced the emergency as a tornado warning. Workers were quickly told the real reason for the emergency evacuation, he said.
Traffic at Washington Street and State Farm Plaza was restricted, and a block-long line of parked police cars filled one lane of Washington Street.
At a makeshift command post in a parking lot at that intersection, officers took the number of people inside into account as they planned how to secure and search the building.
“We do know there are State Farm staff members in the building and we are working to secure their safety first,” McLean County Sheriff Mike Emery said early in the incident.
The officers at the scene ranged from detectives in suits and ties wearing flak jackets to officers in camouflage and full assault gear. Well-armed tactical unit members poured out of unmarked panel trucks.
Among numerous emergency vehicles at the scene was the Department of Homeland Security Region 11 command vehicle, which resembles a large recreational vehicle. It arrived about 4:40 p.m.
“Our policies worked,” said Engerman. “We were very pleased with the police response; we cooperated with them fully.”
Bloomington police said no special security precautions were taken at State Farm’s downtown Bloomington building, but workers there expressed concern for their co-workers on the city’s east side.
“(You) don't expect it to happen here,” said one woman. “We want everything to be fine and safe.”
Bob Holliday and M.K. Guetersloh contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2008, Pantagraph Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
What would you have done?
To tell you the truth Im pretty sure they have insurance for all that. On a serious note. I still dont see how people can mistake feeling safe from being safe? Plus I dont think a guy ran through screaming "Run the british are coming with pbc pipes" Unless he was a potato sniper! 
Answer to your problem is put up sign that reads "No weapons" that should keeps future snipers out! OR you could just allow people to have their right to barearms and use the shelter as a pool room cause you wont need it anymore.