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Hiker on an office retreat left behind by coworkers on mountain, rescued the next day
A man who was left behind on a Colorado mountain while on hiking retreat with coworkers was rescued by emergency services.
The man, who has not been named, was part of a group of 15 people hiking Mount Shavano, a 14,000-foot mountain in the southern Rocky Mountains. All 15 were coworkers participating in an office retreat and were taking the “standard route” to the top of the mountain. That route is an 11-mile hike, according to AllTrails, and almost nine hours to complete on average. The group had started the trek at sunrise on Aug. 23.
“In what might cause some awkward encounters at the office in the coming days and weeks,” the man was left to “complete his final summit push alone,” Chaffee County Search and Rescue said on social media.
The man summited the mountain around 11:30 a.m., later than the rest of his coworkers, and became disoriented while descending. Belongings he had left to mark his path had been moved by another group of hikers, and he made a wrong turn into a steep boulder field on the mountain’s northeast slope. He texted his location to his coworkers, Chaffee County Search and Rescue said, who told him he had the wrong route and attempted to give him directions.
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The man continued hiking, sending another pin with an updated location to his coworkers around 3:30 p.m. Shortly after sending it, a strong storm with freezing rain and high winds tore through the area, again disorienting the man. He also lost cell phone signal, the search and rescue team said.
At around 9 p.m., an overdue hiker was reported to the Chaffee County Search and Rescue team. Two teams and a drone pilot were dispatched from the same trailhead the group had begun their hike. The teams focused on the area near where the man had sent his second location from. The stormy weather complicated rescue conditions, especially for the drone operator, limiting the search, officials said. A helicopter was deployed, but did not detect any activity on the mountain.
By 9 a.m. the next morning, after 12 hours of searching, there was still no sign of the missing man, and a second, more extensive search with assistance from multiple rescue teams around the region began.
Chaffee County Search and Rescue – South
As the search expanded, the man “regained enough cell service to make a call to 911,” the Chaffee County Search and Rescue team said. He reported being “very disoriented” and having fallen at least 20 times. He said he was “unable to get back up” after the last fall.
The call allowed rescuers to confirm the man’s location and focus their energies on “reaching and extracting” him, the Chaffee County Search and Rescue team said. The rescue was a complicated process that included using ropes to enter the gully where the man had fallen.
The man was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The Chaffee County Search and Rescue team did not provide information on his condition. The organization warned that people should never hike alone.
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A Georgia county’s emergency call center was overwhelmed by calls on Sept. 4 about a school shooting at Apalachee High School that killed four people and wounded nine others, records released Friday by Barrow County show.
Local news organizations report many of the 911 phone calls were not released under public record requests because state law exempts from release calls recording the voice of someone younger than 18 years old. That exemption would cover calls from most of the 1,900 students at the school in Winder, northeast of Atlanta.
Calls spiked around 10:20 a.m., when authorities have said that 14-year-old suspect Colt Gray began shooting. Many calls were answered with an automated message saying there was a “high call volume,” WAGA-TV reported.
One man called 911 after receiving text messages from a girlfriend. He was put on hold for just over 10 minutes because of an influx of calls at the time of the shooting, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“She hears people yelling outside, so I don’t know if that’s officers in the building or that’s — I don’t know,” he said, adding that she was eventually evacuated out of the school.
Other adults also called 911 after their children contacted them.
“My daughter calling me crying. Somebody go ‘boom, boom, boom, boom,'” one mother said. The 911 operator responded: “Ma’am we have officers out there, OK?”
Parents of students at an elementary school and middle school neighboring Apalachee also flooded 911 seeking information.
“Sir, my daughter goes to school next door to Apalachee. Is there a school shooter?” one caller asked.
“We do have an active situation (at) Apalachee High School right now,” the operator responded. “We have a lot of calls coming in.”
More than 500 radio messages between emergency personnel were also released Friday.
“Active shooter!” an officer yells in one audio clip while speaking with a dispatcher, CNN reported. Another officer responds, “Correct. We have an active shooter at Apalachee High School.”
The shooting killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, as well as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of those hit by gunfire.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported Thursday that the suspect rode the school bus on the day of the shooting with the assault-style rifle concealed in his backpack.
He then asked a teacher for permission to go to the front office to speak with someone, and when he received it, he was allowed to take his backpack with him, GBI said. He then went to a restroom, where he hid, and then eventually took out the weapon and started shooting, investigators said. A knife was also found on him when he was arrested.
According to investigators, the suspect enrolled at Apalachee High on Aug. 14, and between Aug. 14 and the day of the shooting, he was absent for nine days of school.
The family told CBS News that the suspect’s maternal grandmother had visited the school the day before the massacre to discuss the suspect’s alleged behavioral issues.
The suspect has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, alleging that he gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.
The 13,000 students at Barrow County’s other schools returned to class Tuesday. The 1,900 students who attend Apalachee are supposed to start returning the week of Sept. 23, officials said Friday.
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