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Mock Terrorist Attack Tests
Special Unit Response
Agents of the SPI put into
practice yesterday, at the
opening of the new Año Judicial,
their skills in defending the
courts against attacks and
needing their intervention.
The officers of the Poder
Judicial in downtown San José
was the scene of a mock
terrorist attack and hostage
taking inside the building,
testing the skills of the SPI in
ending the situation quickly and
without loss of life.
Outside the court building,
agents of the Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ)
surrounded the building,
meanwhile negotiators worked on
reaching an agreement with those
inside.
"We already killed one and will
are close to killing them all",
were the shouts coming from
inside the building amidst
sounds of gunshots.
The practice drama began at
9:42am and within minutes the
buildings were surrounded with
SPI officers and a helicopter
hovering above, with four SPI
officials scaling the lines to
the exterior of the building.
Quickly the SPI agents had the
attackers in their sights as
those inside screamed for help.
With a "boom", the building was
breached with a non lethal
impact, the SPI agents entered,
exchanged gunfire, without
hurting any of the hostages or
the attackers.
Jorge Rojas, director of the OIJ,
said to the press that the
exercise was a demonstration of
the effectiveness of the unit
and the use of a helicopter as
the only means of entering the
building in such a situation,
against a terrorist attack and
taking of hostages.
Rojas added that the SPI unit is
continually in training, both in
the country and outside, to
ensure the best response to
these types of situations.
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