Big Dog, what went wrong - ZombieWorldNews.com

What went wrong? Details emerge. Questions raised
Posted: 6/3/07

Bari, Italy (AP)
It seems that one fatal error initiated by the newest member of Michael 'Big dog' Goodson's team may have inadvertently led to friday's massacre of the famous 'zombie hunter' and his team who operated under the call sign 'the pack''

Italian authorities have so far been reticent to reveal details of the botched 'sweep and secure' operation of an over crowded, undead infested apartment building in the south eastern city of Bari.

Junior 'pack' member Dara Fazel 21 was on his first mission. Having swiftly risen through the ranks of Spain's police force, Goodson (35) recruited him into his international team last november. He recently finished intense training with Goodson's team and was playing a key role in this, his first live operation.

The mission was simple. Heavily armed Italian SWAT teams were to enter all three of the lower entrances. Working up through the stair wells, they would sweep each of seven levels. Meanwhile, on the eighth floor, having descended from the roof, Goodson's 'pack' would trap the undead in the stair wells, picking off the stragglers and slowly making their own way to rendezvous with the SWAT teams on the seventh floor.

Bright flash:
With the operation fully underway, Fazel and team partner Brent Copel (31) began checking apartments on the lightly populated eight floor. It is at this point that something unplanned and unanticipated by the operations command occurred. A bright flash accompanied with a loud bang emanated from the apartment windows. So strong that it blew out two of the windows, raining glass on the lower level SWAT teams still entering the frey.

It is understood from early forensic reports that Fazel pre empted his entrance with a flash grenade. These are standard issue equipment for SWAT teams and are designed to emit a loud noise accompanied by a bright, blinding light. The aim being to stun and distract any person long enough for SWAT team members to neutralize a situation. However, there can occasionally generate serious consequences. One-sided ignition can cause rolling and spinning of the grenade in a random direction, flashing wildly. This has been known to injure people and even ignite a fire.

Retreat:
It is believed that this is what did happen in that apartment. Within minutes the entire home was ablaze. Fazel and Copel were forced to retreat west towards their other team members Goodson, John Crale (33) and Jay Lyken (27). Crale radioed the situation to mobile operations HQ situated outside the apartment complex.

Realizing that their escape route to the roof was now blocked, they had a choice of fighting their way down the stair well, or hoarding up in another apartment and awaiting rescue.

It is here that Goodson's now fatal judgment call was made. Fearing that any attempt to descend the stairs could prove overwhelming with the large amount of reanimators now congesting the stairwell, and the thick, acrid smoke clouding their vision, they decided to seek refuge and await rescue in a nearby apartment.

Abandoned:
Frantic calls were made to operations HQ. Fire officials were dispatched. But remarkably the fire chief vetoed any attempt to enter the building until the undead situation was neutralized. . Stating that to do so would jeopardize the safety of his crews.

And so tragedy ensued. Within 20 minutes the entire upper levels were engulfed. The bodies of Goodson, Fazel, Crale, Copel and Lyken have all been recovered and identified by next of kin. Their bodies are expected to be flown home later this week.

A police spokesman was quoted today: "This was a tragedy. A terrible event. A full investigation is expected to begin immediately. There are many unanswered questions remaining."

When asked to comment, ZWN;s own zombie hunter' Captain 'Hawk' Heath , said "You do find that this happens occasionally. Multi national teams are sometimes uncoordinated. It's so blood frustrating. Big dog was a pro. He always went over every last detail. Used to drive everyone crazy. I don't know what happened on this mission. It's unfair to speculate when you were not there. But I do wonder how Fazel got that flash grenade. I know Big dog didn't like them. They don't always work on necro's anyway. It's unpredictable. Sometimes they just carry on like nothing happened. As for the fire chief?..........I just hope we never meet up"