Tin AVERSE CITY — Police arrested a 23-year-old Thompsonville man after he made verbal threats to shoot hospital employees, prompting a temporary lockdown at Munson Medical Center, authorities said.
“This morning at 6:36 a.m., officers were dispatched to the 1100 block of Sixth Street, in reference to a suspicious complaint,” said Capt. Adam Gray, patrol services captain. “Upon arrival, we determined that a 23-year-old Thompsonville male had made threats towards employees of the hospital because he was unhappy with his level of care he received at the hospital.”
Gray said the man left the hospital on foot before officers arrived and was later overheard making threats.
“As a result, he left and made statements that he wanted to shoot the employees,” Gray said.
Police said the threats were verbal and were overheard by a witness in the employee parking structure, who then contacted authorities.
Authorities located the man near the Pavilions, close to the Munson campus at 7:50 a.m., and took him into custody without incident. “We located him, and he had no weapons registered to him, nor did he have any weapons on him,” Gray said. “He was subsequently arrested for false report of terroristic threats.”
Gray explained that while the statements were serious, investigators found no immediate means for the suspect to carry them out. “Even though you made the statements to shoot the employees, he had no means necessary to do it,” he said. “There was no guns registered to him. We patted him down for weapons.”
Gray emphasized that there was no active shooter at any point. “At no time was there an active shooter, nor were there injuries of this incident,” he said. “No one was injured physically by this.”
Munson Healthcare officials confirmed the lockdown was a precautionary measure after initially describing the situation as “active” in internal texts. “An individual, just before 7 a.m. this morning, made multiple verbal threats in person to some Munson Healthcare employees,” said Megan Brown, chief communications officer for Munson Healthcare. “So out of an abundance of precaution, we did put Munson Medical Center on lockdown while those threats were being investigated.”
Brown said the suspect was apprehended nearby and that the lockdown was lifted after police action. “We can now say that everybody is safe in the neighborhood, our patients and our employees,” she said. “And we’re grateful for the teamwork that was shown in our community today.”
Both police and hospital officials said the incident highlighted the importance of reporting suspicious behavior. “We always encourage anyone, if they hear something that sounds suspicious, no matter how small, to notify us,” Gray said.
Brown echoed that message. “Our employees are trained to ‘see something, say something,’” she said. “Anytime you see suspicious activity, whether that’s an employee of Munson or someone in the community, we urge you to come forward and use your voice to keep everyone safe.”
Gray said officers would review the incident internally. “For this particular incident, I view this as a success,” he said. “The officers acted swiftly, and I think for the public’s sake, it couldn’t have been any better.”
The suspect remains in custody, and prosecutors could modify charges if additional evidence emerges, Gray said.