A mock terrorist attack slated for Sunday afternoon was unexpectedly canceled Friday after an article in that day's Princeton Packet reported details of the planned exercise.
The drill, which had been in the planning stages since early July, would have been the first of its kind in more than 20 years in the Princeton area, organizers said. No new date has been announced for the drill, but an article in yesterday's Times of Trenton reported that officials hope to hold the exercise in about a year.
The Packet reported that the joint exercise, initiated by Princeton Township fire marshal Ted Cashel, was to simulate a "chemical event" at DeNunzio Pool.
The University, as well as Borough and Township Police, the Princeton Fire Department and First Aid Squad and the Princeton Medical Center were to participate in the drill, which was designed to identify weaknesses in the process emergency responders would use to deal with a real terrorist attack in he area.
The DeNunzio Pool location was a modification of the original plan, which The Daily Princetonian reported in September called for a simulated poison gas attack on Taplin Auditorium, in Fine Hall.
The plan called for observers from other law enforcement agencies to critique Princeton's emergency personnel, Cashel said.
During the drill, "mutual aid companies" — emergency workers from the surrounding area — would be on call to deal with any actual emergencies, according to the plan.
The drill was designed to test the spontaneous reactions of emergency responders and would work best if they did not know where it was to take place, Cashel and other officials said in September.
Cashel said he might change the location of the drill in response to the 'Prince' story.
Some time later, officials apparently settled on DeNunzio Pool as a new location for the drill.
In September, University Fire Marshall Bob Gregory explained that the drill needed to take place in the southern part of campus because it is in the Township, and the Township is responsible for organizing the drill.
Cashel's office would not say whether the Packet story prompted the cancellation of the redesigned drill.
The plan called for about 50 volunteers to act as victims of the simulated terror attack.
Yesterday was also the "Race for the Cure" in Princeton Township, an event that required the dispatch of police and medical personnel.
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