Rare Lockdown at Howard County General Hospital Turns Up No Threat

The was on lockdown for two and a half hours Sunday after a caller phoned in a bomb threat, police said. No bomb was found.

By 4:30 p.m., police and fire officials, who had checked the building for suspicious people and packages, had determined there was no threat and the lockdown was ended, officials said.

During lockdown, the hospital couldn’t receive ambulances, which had to be sent to other hospitals and visitors couldn’t come and go, said hospital spokeswoman Mary Patton.

“In the reality of today’s world, you have to take every threat seriously,” she said.

Patton, who said she has been with the hospital more than 10 years, said the only other time she recalls the hospital implementing lockdown precautions was “many years ago,” when she said there was a shooting in the parking lot as a result of a domestic violence situation.