Nebraska man whose active shooter drill got out of hand admits terroristic threats and sexually assaulting a child
Prosecutors alleged that John Channels planted fake victims and fired blanks from a handgun to make a shooter drill seem real to unwitting employees
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A Nebraska man accepted plea deals in two separate cases this week — one related to terroristic threats in connection to taking an active shooter drill too far and another related to sexual assault charges.
John Channels, a 29-year-old former Offutt Air Force Base security officer, pleaded no contest on Tuesday to multiple counts of terroristic threats in connection with the fake drill at Omaha Catholic Charities in 2022, WOWT reported.
Channels, who had identified himself as an “Offutt Civilian Police Officer,” was hired to conduct an active shooter drill as a training exercise. But it devolved into a realistic reenactment — that made workers believe they were in real danger.
Investigators found that Channels had fired blanks from a prop gun, banged on the building’s windows, asked “unidentified individuals” to pretend to be victims, and advised Catholic Charities to not tell its employees about the fact that this was a drill, court documents obtained by KETV stated.
Police have said they were unaware of the drill and were not in contact with Channels ahead of the exercise.
On Wednesday Channels also pleaded no contest to charges of possession of child sexual abuse images, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child, Omaha World-Herald reported.
He was accused of sexually assaulting his taekwondo student. The girl told authorities in 2021 that the pair had been in a “quasi-dating” relationship from 2019-2021 — when she was aged 12 to 14. During that time, he encouraged her to send him provocative photos and forced her to perform a sex act on him, according to reports.
He could face up to 12 years behind bars for the terroristic threats charges and and a minimum of 21 years for the sexual assault and child sexual abuse images charges, the World-Herald reported.
Channels is scheduled to be sentenced in both cases on October 25. He is currently being held in Douglas County Correction Center , booking records show.