What to Know
- Hundreds of police officers swarmed a Westchester County hospital amid unconfirmed reports of a gunman, officials say
- Investigators found no evidence of a gunman at NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville; no one was found to be injured, either
- Officials reviewed hospital security footage, but have not yet found any evidence of a gunman, authorities said
Police rushed to a Westchester hospital late Sunday after two patients reported seeing a man with a shotgun, but after hours of searching and reviewing security camera footage, officials concluded it was a false alarm.
"There are no victims and at this point, we don't believe there was a suspect in the hospital who was armed," said Bronxville Police Chief Christopher Satriale.
Cops had responded to a report of a man with a gun at around 8:45 p.m., but no shooter or evidence of a gunman was found at NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, officials said at a press conference at the scene. No one was found to be injured, either.
Satriale said two patients staying in the same room on the sixth floor reported to nurses that they believe they saw a man with a gun, and the hospital was quickly locked down.
Authorities searched the hospital, but found no evidence of any danger or threat, Satriale said. Officials reviewed survillance footage and again found no evidence.
“We were aided tremendously by the video tapes,” Satriale said. “The video tape was clear and in that area at that time on that floor there was not an armed person.”
The hospital asked people not to come to the hospital Sunday night unless it was an emergency. No evacuations were ordered.
"We are continuing to gather details about tonight’s developments and will provide an update when we can," the hospital said in a statement.
Patrol cars lined up outside the hospital and the entrances were blocked off for several blocks with local, county and state police.
Local
Satriale was asked if the patients might have made up the report maliciously. He said no and called them "credible witnesses" who thought the information they were providing was accurate.
"They might just be wrong in what they thought they observed," he said.
Some visitors inside the hospital's waiting room told NBC 4 New York they were asked to move into an emergency room with several other patients during the investigation.
A few neighbors saw the commotion and heard the sirens and came to see what was going on.
"It's going to be a scary situation," said Matthew Dicicco, who lives nearby and works as a nurse but not at Lawrence.
Nearly two years ago, a shooter opened fire in a Bronx hospital.
Henry Bello, a doctor and former Bronx-Lebanon Hospital employee, entered the hospital on June 30, 2017, and started shooting a AR-15 rifle. Bello killed a doctor and wounded five members of the medical staff and a patient before taking his own life.
