ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A threat phoned in against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sunday turned out to be a hoax, and the St. Petersburg Police Department is now treating it as a swatting case.
Officers were sent to the pediatric hospital at 501 Sixth Avenue South just before 11 a.m. after a caller reported that an explosive device was inside. Hospital leaders put the campus on lockdown while police checked the building.
A police dog searched the facility and turned up nothing. No device and no sign of a real bomb were found, and nobody was hurt. Officers cleared the scene once the sweep was complete.
The lockdown lasted several hours. Families arriving for care were sent to other hospitals for a time, but doctors and nurses kept caring for the children who were already admitted. The hospital was open again at about 4 p.m.
A spokeswoman for the department said investigators believe the call was a swatting attempt, a false emergency report meant to draw a large armed police response to one place.
As of Monday, police had not named a suspect or reported any arrest. The department has also not said where the call came from or why someone would target a hospital that treats sick children from across the Tampa Bay region.
Anyone with information about the call can contact the St. Petersburg Police Department. Making a false report of a bomb or other emergency is a crime under Florida law, and swatting cases can bring felony charges when they put first responders and the public at risk.
Section: More St. Petersburg FL crime news
Filed under: St. Petersburg FL Public Safety News
