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In a desperate plea for her life, she begged the man not to hurt her, telling him she had a young child.

A nurse says she begged for her life after being taken hostage by an unidentified gunman during a shift at a Colorado nursing home. Unbeknownst to her, the armed intruder was actually a cop in disguise, masquerading as a bad guy in a "routine" safety drill.

The incident occurred on October 16th, 2013, at the Heritage Park Care Center in Carbondale, Colorado. Nurse Michelle Meeker was working a day shift and attending to her patients. Around 1:00 p.m., she was diverted from her work and asked to check out a "suspicious" man sitting in a waiting room.

When Ms. Meeker approached the man, she asked him if he was there to see someone at the facility or if he needed help. According to her account, after asking twice, "the man gruffly responded with words to the effect of, 'follow me, I'll show you.'"

The stranger then took her down the hall to an empty room and exposed a handgun tucked in his waistband. He ordered Ms. Meeker to get in the empty room.

"Terrified, Ms. Meeker shook her head and said 'No,' afraid that if she went through that doorway she would not make it out alive," her lawsuit states.

The armed man demanded she comply three times, and finally placed his hand on his gun and physically ushered her into the room.

Ms. Meeker began to cry and shake with terror. "In a desperate plea for her life, she begged the man not to hurt her, telling him she had a young child," her lawsuit alleged.

Her captor then told her "in a hushed tone" that he was a Carbondale Police Officer and that "this is a drill."

Ms. Meeker had no way of knowing if his explanation was true, and continued to fear for her life, she claimed. She proceeded to comply quietly under duress.

The intruder then told her that she had to help him "capture" her co-workers. The lawsuit states that two additional staff members - a CNA named Zach and a RN named Erica - were coerced to follow orders at gunpoint during the nearly 40-minute ordeal.

At one point, Erica called 9-1-1 to request help from police, but they never arrived. It was later revealed that 9-1-1 emergency operators were instructed to disregard any calls that might have been received from the nursing home during the drill - adding to the terror of those being held hostage.

When it was finally over, Ms. Meeker was taken to a conference room filled with company executives and the man who took her hostage. The group "criticized" her for her poor performance during the surprise abduction. Evidently they expected that she might make some more noise to alert attention to her being captured in the middle of her shift.

When confronted by 9News about whether staff members had been informed about the drill, Heritage Park Care Center dodged the question, stating that "we conduct routine safety drills to prepare for any type of situation we might face" and described the drill as "safe and controlled."

Thomas Rice, an attorney who represents the Carbondale Police Department, said it "wasn't the town's responsibility" to inform staff members that police officers were going to be masquerading as violent abductors, according to Reuters.

Apparently none of the coordinators of the secret drill considered the possibility of the staff members being willing to use violence to defend their lives. Given the criminal, life-threatening appearance of the scenario, any of the hostages or witnesses would have been morally and legally justified in using deadly force to stop the mysterious gunman.

Aside from the array of improvised weapons that might have been found in the building - chairs, electrical cords, scissors, medical devices, blunt objects - staff members might have been carrying their own handgun for self-defense. There are an estimated 140,000 Colorado residents who exercise their right to carry a firearm. Disregarding this possibility was supremely irresponsible and negligent.

Carbondale Police Chief Eugene Schilling was ultimately responsible for agreeing to use CPD officers in the so-called "active shooter" drill. The man who posed as the gunman was identified as CPD Officer Michael Zimmerman. They and some company executives were named as defendants in Ms. Meeker's lawsuit.

Ms. Meeker was so emotionally burdened from the experience that she turned in her resignation. She now seeks legal retribution against the individuals who she says knowingly violated her rights and caused her physical, emotional, and financial hardship.

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