Sunday, February 3, 2013

Does the Timothy Shepard case need a 'Post 9/11' review?



Police Cadet Timothy Shepard died after what has been reported as nine hours of  very demanding, Police Academy, physical and mental stress training - He lost his kidney and liver function, and eventually died after his liver transplant. Don't you find this just a little unusual?  Why doesn't this happen at amateur sporting events, Iron Man competitions, or when middle aged out-of-shape men run a marathon?

Add to this indications many of the cadets dispute any form of training abuse took place.

Has any one considered giving this a 'post 9/11' review?

Compare this to events a some months later at Ft. Benning GA, and a police report I made to Detective Dennis Farrell of the Reading MA police department in fall of 1987 -


Consider this archived article about the Agawam Training Outbreak. It is also worth reviewing this detailed report of the investigation

It all looks very different in our post 9/11 world doesn't it? - What was the -one- scenario never considered in the investigation?  And also - This may be wrong, it may be mistaken - That is not the same as it's being simply delusional.

At the very least this could an important training and preparedness exercise for the Massachusetts State Police, and Massachusetts Homeland Security. They can go back and ask - "How would this investigation have been handled post 9/11? Who would have participated? What Public Safety steps would have been taken?"

Here is a link to Timothy Shepard's "Officer Down" memorial page



[ A final edit:  Is the determination of  "Exercise Induced Rhabdomyolisis" (EIR) plausible? Yes, indeed it is. It is also important to remember that the pattern of the outbreak was unusual enough to create initial concerns among the Agawam staff and cadets, as well as Massachusetts medical and environmental experts of possible toxins or infectious disease. One has to consider that the circumstances, one of an outbreak rather than isolated individuals, is a rare and unusual event. It may well have been EIR, but with aggravating factors, such as a toxin. The one scenario never considered is that it was a toxin, and it was a deliberate act.

Beyond all of the newspaper headlines, and public outrage, was this training year, this class, really fundamentally different from the classes before it? The same question is relevant to the Ft. Benning outbreak - Was this class of military recruits, this training process, really fundamentally different from the training procedures before it?

So yes, Exercise Induced Rhabdomyolisis is a very likely explanation. However, rhabdomyolisis  is also consistent with symptoms of a crudely manufactured chemical weapon, as might be used by religious or political extremists such as Japanese "Aum Shinrikio", responsible for a Sarin attack in the Tokyo Subway.]




Tim Raisbeck

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