'There's no excuse': Milwaukee aldermen call for clear safety protocols in city buildings after Zeidler incident

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — City leaders are pushing for better safety protocols after a perceived threat at Milwaukee's Zeidler Municipal Building last week.

What was initially called in as a report of shots fired turned out to be a false alarm.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson said it was believed to be a recently fired employee slamming a door.

The initial report prompted lockdowns in the Zeidler building and neighboring City Hall on Thursday, May 15.

Common Council members are saying there was a frustrating lack of communication during the incident, and they want those possible safety risks addressed.

An announcement played over intercoms in City Hall last Thursday at 3:30 p.m., telling employees to "shelter in place," but officials say it didn't come through in the Zeidler Municipal Building.

"The speakers were not working at that time," said Jerrel Kruschke, commissioner of public works for the City of Milwaukee, at the Public Safety Committee meeting May 22.

"In the entire building?" an alderman asked.

"In the entire ZMB building, correct. This is why folks did not know," Kruschke said.

He confirmed the system was working during a routine check just two weeks prior.

When the Department of Public Works realized the announcement didn't go through, they called the leadership staff on each floor.

Members of the city's Public Safety Committee called it one of many things that went wrong during the lockdown.

"We are hearing from employees - don't feel safe, weren't informed- and there's no excuse for that," said Alderman Jose Perez, president of Milwaukee's Common Council.

Perez said he didn't know there was an incident until his staffer saw the mayor's security detail in the hallway.

"It was obvious they knew; the office was shut down, blacked out, and we were left in the dark about it," he explained.

Milwaukee's director of emergency management, Ryan Zollicoffer, said an email was supposed to alert city officials, but committee members said they never received it.

"Just a generalized shelter in place, stay there, and details will come accordingly. That's what should have happened, and it did not," Kruschke said.

"If a plan is going to collect dust and no one is going to execute how we understand it and do it, it makes no sense," Perez said.

Committee members also learned the disgruntled employee was not escorted out of the building after being terminated, because there isn't always a procedure to require that.

"There has been discussions just recently, about having City Hall security be present at every single termination in the future, just so this incident does not happen again," Kruschke said.

"This was a great training opportunity. Thank God nothing tragic happened," said Alderwoman Sharlen Moore.

Moving forward, the Public Safety Committee wants DPW and emergency management to make a plan to ensure safety alerts are clear.

"A call comes into building management, expectation would be always overcommunicate. Speaker, text messaging, e-notify," Zollicoffer said.

Alderman Perez also wants committee members to meet with the city clerk's office to discuss safety protocols together.