US anti-terrorism summit to stage 'zombie crisis'
Military and first responders to observe exercise in which 'unpredictable enemy' unleashes crisis
Move over vampires, goblins and haunted houses, this kind of Halloween terror aims to shake up even the toughest warriors.
An untold number of so-called zombies are coming to a counterterrorism summit attended by hundreds of US Marines, Navy special operations forces, soldiers, police, firefighters and others to prepare them for their worst nightmares.
"This is a very real exercise. This is not some type of big costume party," said Brad Barker, president of Halo, a security firm hosting a training demonstration on Wednesday during the summit at an 18-hectare Paradise Point Resort island on a San Diego bay in the state of California. "Everything that will be simulated at this event has already happened; it just hasn't happened all at once on the same night. But the training is very real; it just happens to be the bad guys we're having a little fun with."
Hundreds of military, law enforcement and medical personnel will observe the Hollywood-style production of a zombie attack as part of their emergency response training.
In the scenario, a VIP and his personal detail are trapped in a village, surrounded by zombies when a bomb explodes. The VIP is wounded and his team must move through the town while dodging bullets and shooting back at the invading zombies. At one point, some members of the team are bitten by zombies and must be taken to a field medical facility for decontamination and treatment.
"No one knows what the zombies will do in our scenario, but quite frankly no one knows what a terrorist will do," Barker said. "If a law enforcement officer sees a zombie and says, 'Freeze, get your hands in the air!' What's the zombie going to do? He's going to moan at you. If someone on PCP or some other psychotic drug is told that, the truth is he's not going to react to you."