2 law enforcement officers injured during training at SCI Phoenix remain hospitalized
Two of the injured officers remain in area hospitals.
SKIPPACK TWP., Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Five law enforcement officers were injured Thursday morning in an accident during a training exercise at a prison in Montgomery County.
The accident behind the SCI Phoenix prison in Skippack Township occurred shortly before 10 a.m. The training session was being conducted by the FBI's Philadelphia field office and those in attendance included representatives from several states, county and local law enforcement agencies.
According to authorities, three members of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad, a Pennsylvania State Police trooper and an FBI Philadelphia agent were injured when an explosive device went off.
Corporal Ryan Volk, a 14-year veteran of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Bomb Squad was airlifted to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. As of Friday afternoon, he remains hospitalized.
"Pretty much our entire office has been by his side since that time," said Montgomery County Sheriff Sean Kilkenny.
Two other members of the Montgomery County Bomb Squad, Corporal Tim Metz and Corporal Andrew Noto were also hurt when a bomb placed in a vehicle, for training purposes, exploded prematurely.
Metz and Noto were treated at Paoli Hospital and released.
"Last night, Metz, Noto and those on-site to help evacuate those deputies, it was an emotional night. We had counselors there. This is going to be a healing process over time," said Sheriff Kilkenny.
An FBI Philadelphia bomb technician was also treated for injuries and released, and a Pennsylvania state trooper remains hospitalized.
"This training is inherently dangerous," said Scott Sweetow.
Sweetow joined us after training bomb squad forces in Aman, Jordan. After working in the ATF, Sweetow was the acting Director of the FBI's Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center in Huntsville Alabama. He is currently the president of S3 Global Consulting, a counterterrorism firm
Sweetow stressed that understanding what went wrong during this training exercise is of the utmost importance.
"This is really important to find out why this happened because the training is important to national security," said Sweetow.
The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the accident.
