by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | November 08, 2022
Ascension Providence Hospital (pictured here) was one of three hospitals in Texas that received a potential bomb threat call. (Photo courtesy of Ascension Providence Hospital)
Three Texas hospitals were evacuated on November 3 in response to potential bomb threats.
Ascension Providence Hospital and Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest, both in Waco, said they received calls about the possibility of suspicious packages on their campuses. Baylor Scott & White Temple, in Temple, also received a call,
according to CBS-affiliate, KWTX-TV/Channel 10 News.
A fourth threat was made to the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in the Waco area,
according to Fox 44 News.
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The Waco Police Department and McLennan County Sheriff’s Office responded to the threat at Ascension Providence around 6:30 p.m., evacuating part of the building and conducting a search, said bystanders.
Photos at the scene showed patients in wheelchairs and nurses in the streets near the hospital, and outside of it patrol units from the Waco Police Department and Hill County Sheriff’s Office.
All four sites were eventually given the all-clear by authorities for people to go back inside, and declared safe.
Tiya Searcy, a spokeswoman with Baylor Scott & White Health, told KWTX that the calls were “...non-credible. Out of an abundance of caution, local police departments and Baylor Scott & White Public Safety immediately conducted a thorough search of both campuses. They have now given the all-clear and normal operations are continuing,” Searcy said.
The McLennan County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is ongoing and will be conducted in collaboration with other local agencies.
Threats and the potential for bombings at U.S. hospitals are rising. Earlier this year, security at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, in California,
found a pipe bomb on a patient. Bomb Squad investigators “rendered the device safe,” and believed the patient only had it on him and did not plan to attack the hospital.
A woman, from Massachusetts, was arrested in September and
indictedfor making a bomb threat against Boston Children’s Hospital.
Following this, a Canadian man was also
arrested for making several bomb threats against Boston Children’s, as well as Massachusetts General Hospital and other sites in Boston.
