Rose Medical Center was flooded with police officers after several 911 calls were made on Friday afternoon. Some people called the cops to say they heard gunshots and one person claimed to have seen the suspect.
The individual was described as a white male in his mid-30s wearing a flannel shirt and a hat. According to Denver police Officer Tyrone Campbell, the calls from patients and staff members from the Rose Medical Center started around 4 p.m.
The police and a SWAT team rushed to the Rose Medical Center campus and closed a few streets and parking garages. They ordered a lockdown of the medical center and began their search for the armed suspect.
During the lockdown patients and staff sheltered in place, which meant they stayed in the room, stayed away from windows, and were not allowed to move around the facility.
The police mainly focused their resources at the Rose Founders Building, which has a surgical center along with doctors and other offices. Police conducted a room-by-room search of the complex.
Unable to locate the armed man, the authorities expanded their search into other areas of the hospital. The authorities also patrolled the rooftop of the hospital. Police said they did not find the suspect and the lockdown was lifted. The medical campus reopened at about 8 p.m. Friday.
George Moloney said his wife was not feeling well and Friday she went to Rose for treatment. He shared:
“It’s scary. It is scary in terms of the whole situation because I am not able to be around her. It’s just kind of a scary situation.”
Michael Bishop, who was trying to pick up his wife after her shift, went to the emergency room to hide as the police did their job. He stated:
“She said somebody had sighted somebody with a gun outside the building and that was pretty much the initial information. So I just parked myself in front of the building and there seemed to be regular activity. There didn’t seem to be any concern other than the lockdown.”
Hospital spokeswoman Julie Hogan said all patients and staff were safe and added:
“This is a reality we live in. We’ve all been trained on this.”
Campbell had the following to say about the situation:
“We conducted a zone-by-zone systematic search of the facility. We did not locate a suspect or victim. We are not going to talk about the details of the investigation, but I can say our detectives will look at everything.”
While the hospital has reopened its doors, the authorities are still investigating the matter.
