David recalls theater shooting

Thursday, July 23 had every indication of being a normal summer evening.
For Master Sgt. Brooks David, who is the public information officer with the Louisiana State Police and a Vermilion Parish native, the evening certainly had the elements of a perfect summer evening.
“I was home barbecuing with my family,” David said of what he was doing when he received the call of the tragic moment that struck at the heart of Acadiana.
Around 7:30 p.m., the call came in of an active shooter at the Grand 16 theater in Lafayette. David went from family man to State Trooper in a matter of moments.
“I remember receiving the phone call from our office, running in the house and changing into my uniform,” David said. “I really can’t tell you the correct response time, but it was pretty quick.”
With the incident occurring inside the city limits of Lafayette, the Lafayette Police Department was in charge of the scene. David did not arrive expecting to take over, but rather lend support where needed.
“It is their investigation unless they request State Police to take the lead,” David said. “State Police threw all it’s resources behind Lafayette PD in case they needed it. Our Emergency Services Unit (Bomb Squad) headed part of the initial investigation because of the unknown packages inside the theater.”
Into the night, David became an important part of the process, helping to get information out to the public at the request of Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft.
“Usually the investigating agency handles all media inquiries,” David explained. “However,
Corporal Paul Mouton, Lafayette’s PIO, was out of town. Sometimes when multi agencies respond to a large-scale incident, LSP handles the media or assists in anyway we can.”
David dealt with most of the media, which soon spread to national outlets, in the first few hours after the shooting.
“I set up the press conferences that were held at different times,” David said. “If I had to guess, I probably did nearly 100 interviews with live TV and on the phone.”
David admitted it was a learning experience, as his voice spread from Lafayette to across the globe.
“I don’t think I had time to get nervous,” David said. “The difference is, I know our local media. I knew their goal was the same. That was to make sure Acadiana was well informed of the situation. After informing local media, we informed other media outlets. I was able to do interviews with CNN, BBC live in Britain, CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, Good Morning America, and even did a News Show in Tokyo, Japan.
“I was able to learn how the National Media works.”
For David, the focus of all those interviews remained the same, get the right information out.
“I was never tired of answering the same question,” David said. “The job of a Public Information Officer is to inform the public of what is taking place. In times like that we want to calm the communities. I believe we were able to get the message out quickly that the shooter had been neutralized and there were no other immediate threats to citizens.”
David could have been forgiven for being tired.
“The night of the shooting, I did not sleep,” David said. “I stayed at the theater doing interviews and press conferences.
“I was relieved the following morning and left around 9 a.m.”
Throughout his time working the incident, David received texts from friends around the country, which is the case anytime someone appears on national T.V. He said he was pleased that the messages matched the mood of the moment.
“I had friends from Baltimore, Oklahoma, New Jersey and other states texting saying they were watching and listening,” David said. “It was nice to hear from them because it wasn’t about me being on the ‘news.’
“They were sending their prayers for the families affected by the situation.”
Two of those families lost loved ones, Jillian Johnson, 33, and Mayci Breaux, 21. The shooting left nine others injured.
“Unfortunately as law enforcement officers, said David, a trooper for 18-and-a-half years, “we deal with death and great bodily injuries too many times, whether it’s major car crashes or some other unfortunate incident. Each incident affects you differently. None are more or less emotional than the other.
“Anytime you have to inform a family their loved one is not coming home, it’s difficult.”