Warnings Unheeded by Andy Brown

Warnings Unheeded: Twin Tragedies at Fairchild Air Force Base by Andy Brown is a well-researched and revealing look at two separate events that occurred at Fairchild AFB just outside of Spokane, WA, in June of 1994. The first was an active shooter incident at the Fairchild hospital, and the second was the crash of a B-52. Brown, who was actually the military police officer who was the first law enforcement officer on scene and stopped and killed the active shooter, describes in detail the events that led up to both of these tragedies, and you will easily identify why he titled the book “Warnings Unheeded.”

Besides his own experience of being the person who ended the shooting spree at the hospital, Brown uses information from interviews, reports, witness statements, mental health records, and the gunman’s correspondence and journal entries. He researched the B-52 that happened four days after the shooting just as meticulously, and the book presents both stories in a manner that not only makes you want to continue reading, but shake your head at why the warnings were ignored. The book goes back and forth between the two stories, and both keep you wanting to know what happens next. The only bad thing about any of it is the sickness you will feel when Brown writes about those who died that week.

I also like that Brown shared his own feelings and experiences after the two tragedies and what he went through dealing with the aftermath. The book is not only an interesting accurate account of those events of 1994 and what led up to them, but a book that contains lessons to be learned to prevent future incidences from occurring. I have nothing but respect for Andy Brown, who ran toward the gunfire to save innocent people, and I give this book the highest recommendation for a book in this genre.

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