A federal report says 911 call takers did not warn first responders that firearms had been reported at a home before a Prince George's County firefighter was shot and killed and another seriously wounded during a 2016 response.
The report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) sheds some light on what happened on April 15, 2016, when career firefighter John Ulmschneider was killed by gunfire during a welfare check.
Darrel Lumpkin was in his Temple Hills home when his concerned brother called 911 because he could not reach his 61-year-old sibling. Believing Lumpkin was suffering a medical emergency, Ulmschneider and volunteer firefighter Kevin Swain forced entry after loudly knocking and announcing themselves.
Lumpkin fired on the firefighters when the door opened, killing Ulmschneider and badly wounding Swain. Lumpkin was having a diabetic episode and was incoherent when he fired at what he believed to be intruders, according to his attorney.
Lumpkin pleaded guilty to a weapons charge, but he died last year before beginning to serve a four-year prison sentence.
Some of the contributing factors in the report are as follows:
- Police were not on scene when the door was opened
- Lack of standardized uniform among responding crew for identification
- Lack of communication to responders on the presence of firearms
- Firefighter paramedics not wearing ballistic vests or protective equipment
Some of the recommendations in the report include:
- Fire, EMS, police departments, and dispatch agencies should ensure that police are the primary agency initially assigned to welfare checks
- Information regarding weapons in a residence should be communicated to all responding agencies
- Fire and EMS departments should require personnel to present themselves in uniforms that readily identify them
Read the entire report here.
