Threat prompts lockdown at Huntington Hospital; suspect in custody

A suspect has been taken into custody on suspicion of making a threatening call to Huntington Hospital that prompted a temporary lockdown of the Pasadena facility on Friday afternoon, authorities said.

A man who was a patient in the emergency room around 2 p.m. phoned in the threat after being discharged, according to Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the city of Pasadena. The facility was placed on lockdown, with incoming ambulance traffic rerouted to other hospitals, she said.

The hospital resumed normal operations around 6:30 p.m., according to spokesperson Dorey Huston.

Hospital employees were sent a text at 5:41 p.m. saying: “Huntington Hospital received a Code Silver threat via phone. Facility on lockdown, but no need to shelter in place.”

Code Silver is a hospital code for a person with a weapon, an active shooter or a hostage situation, according to the Hospital Assn. of Southern California.

Employees received an “all-clear” alert shortly before 7:30 p.m., according to copies of the messages reviewed by The Times.

The Los Angeles Police Department took a suspect into custody around 6:30 p.m and then transferred him to the Pasadena Police Department, which is the lead agency for the incident, Derderian said. No immediate information was available on what he might be charged with.

This incident comes on the heels of two “swatting” calls that prompted significant law enforcement responses in Southern California.

Swatting is the name for a false crime or emergency being reported at a specific location to provoke an aggressive law enforcement response, often by a SWAT team.

Dozens of heavily armed deputies swarmed Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital on Wednesday evening after a caller told officials he was planning on “shooting up” the San Bernardino County medical facility.

Then on Thursday evening, students were warned to shelter in place at the five undergraduate colleges in the Claremont consortium after the Claremont Police Department received a call warning of a gunman on the campus of Claremont McKenna College.

Neither the Loma Linda Hospital nor the Claremont McKenna calls were deemed credible threats, and it is unknown whether any of the incidents are related.