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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.
