Building at GE's Appliance Park evacuated after false report of active shooter

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A building at GE's Appliance Park was evacuated Thursday morning after a "misunderstanding" inside Building 5 led to false reports of an active shooter at the facility.

Around 11:30 a.m., an alarm went off in the building. Just seven weeks into her new job, Hayley Shawgo thought it was a fire drill.

"We hear this blaring siren," she said Thursday. "We were standing around, we're like 'We've never heard this alarm. What's going on?"

Shawgo and her colleagues went from slowly walking out to panic.

We had like absolutely no communication," she said. "And I thought I was gonna die before I knew what was going on."

About 10 minutes after the alarm sounded, GE employees received text alerts from the company telling them to evacuate or take cover.

"We had no idea what was going on," Shawgo said. "We were all scared, praying for our lives. I was sick to my stomach just hiding and just hoping that will make it."

Louisville Metro Police confirmed on social media that the threat was false. Crews cleared the scene just before noon.

GE Appliances spokeswoman Julie Wood said the situation was "just a misunderstanding."

"An employee heard a different equipment alarm and thought it was the active shooter alarm," Wood told WDRB News.

Mark Kaufman, a 12-year veteran at GE Applicance Park, said the whole situation was handled poorly.

"That needs to be handled better," he said. "... There was no direction. Nobody knew what was going on. Even the managers didn't know what was going on.

"... None of us knew the protocol. We never heard that alarm before."

Wood told WDRB News "...that all alarms are covered extensively in new employee orientation, siren sounds are listed on employee badges and included in refresher training."

She added GE Appliances uses plant radios to give additional information and noted Appliance Park hosted an active shooter drill October 29.

LMPD officers responded, and police and fire crews cleared the scene just before noon.

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Building at GE's Appliance Park evacuated after false report of active shooter