Lackland Main Store Manager Keeps Things Cool During Active-Shooter Alert

On the morning of June 14, Patricia Murauskas, main store manager at the Lackland Air Force Base Exchange, was talking with team members in the Outdoor Living section of Lackland’s BXtra when a customer came in saying he had just received a notification about an active shooter alert.

Patricia Murauskas, main store manager at the Lackland Air Force Base Exchange, in the BXtra area where she assembled customers and associates during an active-shooter alert in June.

Almost simultaneously, the store’s operations manager called her to tell her about the alert.

“At that point, I said, ‘OK, guys, contact the main store,’” Murauskas said. ‘’’We’re locking all the doors. We’re putting people in safe areas.’”

Murauskas stayed in the BXtra, which is on the other end of the mall from the main store, and began taking action.

“I took all of the associates and the customers to the center pad, which is the farthest away from any walls or glass,” she said. “Our air conditioner wasn’t working properly, so I didn’t want to put them in the stockroom, where it would be way too hot. I asked everyone to please move to the furniture section and asked the customers to please have a seat.”

If customers had not gone to the furniture section yet, Murauskas approached them personally and explained what the situation was. She asked team members to go into the stockroom and bring out large industrial fans to keep the customers cool. The team also brought out a case of bottled water, offering bottles to each customer because they didn’t know how long the alert was going to take.

Christine Harlan, Lackland’s general manager, said Murauskas was an ideal person to handle this kind of situation.

“Patricia’s know-how helps others remain calm and makes the best out of every situation,” Harlan said. “It’s an excellent skill to have!”

According to San Antonio news reports, Lackland went on lockdown on June 14 after security personnel heard six to eight gunshots fired outside the base around 9:30 a.m. The base issued an active shooter alert on its social-media accounts. At 11:40 a.m., the base declared an all-clear.

In May 2021, Sandy Gilbert, Joint Base San Antonio’s Loss Prevention manager, set up active-shooter training with a military liaison. Exchange teams went to a base movie theater and received the training there.

Murauskas, who will mark 28 years with the Exchange in August and whose father was an Army captain, said she learned from the training session, which occurred shortly after she arrived at Lackland. But she’d had other experience.

“I’ve been deployed,” she said. “I was in the Balkans for about nine months and I was in Incirlik, Turkey, for about six months. We had to always make sure we were ready for anything.”

She also gave credit to the Lackland store team, which she says is always very receptive to her direction and responded quickly during the lockdown.

“One of my skills is leading people,” she said. “Getting everybody together and getting them to follow the leader. My instincts just kicked in. It just came natural to me. I just knew that I needed to get everybody in a safe, comfortable place.”

And, she adds, “I have four kids. That’s the best training you can get.”