Embedded with the Elite: A Hostage’s Perspective
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The FBI’s El Paso division conducted its annual weapons of mass destruction training exercise, testing key crisis response assets, including SWAT, evidence recovery, bomb technicians and crisis negotiations teams. Agents simulated a high-intensity hostage situation to test their response under real-world conditions.
ABC-7’s Isabella Martinez was embedded in the operation, playing the role of a hostage.
The training, which takes about a year to plan, was developed in collaboration with the Crisis Management Coordinator and the Critical Incident Response Team in Virginia. This year’s scenario, Operation Downfall, involved terrorists smuggling radiological equipment into the U.S. and holding hostages inside a house.
ABC-7 was given minimal details ahead of time. El Paso FBI Public Affairs Officer Jeanette Harper provided GPS coordinates to an abandoned home in Clint, Texas, and told participants to dress warmly.
The exercise began at 4:30 a.m. with a safety briefing. Around 5 a.m., Isabella and other participating media members, who were also playing hostages, were led into a basement, where they waited for the scenario to unfold.
At 6:05 a.m., the FBI SWAT team was dropped off about a mile from the site and moved in to confront the opposing force. An “armed suspect” stormed into the basement where the “hostages” were being held.
Negotiations began shortly after, with an FBI crisis negotiator working to de-escalate the situation. An agent behind the scenes guided the hostage taker’s dialogue through a walkie-talkie to make sure the negotiator was tested in real-time decision-making.
After 25 minutes, the hostage taker surrendered, but the exercise wasn’t over. Isabella was the last hostage to be released, carrying a simulated explosive device. FBI bomb technicians were called in to neutralize the threat before she was cleared to leave.
“The community needs to know that the FBI, along with all its partners, works day in and day out to prevent an attack like this from occurring,” said John Morales, special agent in charge of the FBI El Paso Division. “We have dedicated men and women who come to work knowing that any moment they may be called upon to put their lives on the line if necessary.”
The FBI worked with local property owners to use the abandoned home, which is set to be demolished for new development.
The agency says its goal is to prevent situations like this from ever happening, but if they do, they are ready to respond.
Watch Embedded with the Elite: A Hostage's Perspective Thursday on ABC-7 at 10 p.m.
