No lockdown, shooter at St. Patrick Hospital
Last Modified: Friday, August 03, 2012 5:48 PM
By Laura Heller / American Press
An incident in the area of Christus-St. Patrick Hospital Thursday caused hospital officials to take precautions to protect patients, employees and visitors, authorities said.
The incident began around lunchtime when Lake Charles Police received a call to assist Acadian Ambulance with a person who was suicidal and making threats to his sister in Iowa, according to Sgt. Shawn Caldwell, Lake Charles Police spokesman.
By the time officers arrived, the person was gone, he said.
An Acadian Ambulance official said paramedics “never made patient contact.”
Caldwell said officers only went to St. Pat’s to see if the person, who works at the hospital, had maybe gone there.
In the meantime, Caldwell said the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana State Police were called in as back-up, but “nothing was going on.”
“We found nothing,”he said.
St. Patrick Hospital spokeswoman Heather Hidalgo said there was “never an official lockdown” at the hospital and there was “no shooter.”
“Although there was never any real threat to Christus-St. Patrick Hospital, we took the necessary precautions for the safety of our patients, visitors, associates and physicians. We worked in conjunction with state police, Lake Charles Police, Sheriff’s Office and local officials to mitigate any potential for harm,” she said in a news release.
Dr. Michael Debakey Drive and Foster Street were closed for a short time. The person who started the whole incident has not yet been located.
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