Friday, December 2, 2011

Hospital UPDATE

No charges are expected to be filed against an Allegany County man who was suspected of bringing a firearm into St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell Friday afternoon.
Hornell police and other authorities responded to the hospital at 3:40 p.m. Friday after receiving a report claiming a man, whose name hasn't been released, verbally indicated he was carrying a weapon. No one actually saw a weapon in the man’s possession, and he didn’t threaten himself or anyone else, according to Hornell Police Chief Ted Murray.
According to another police official, the man was attempting to visit his wife in the psychiatric unit in the hospital. He had what is believed to be an empty holster on his hip.
When security guards asked him whether he possessed a firearm, the man allegedly replied it was in his vehicle. Guards asked whether he would allow them to search him for a weapon. The man allegedly declined, and security guards escorted him from the ward but didn’t remove him from the hospital.
A release from the Hornell police department stated the man was last seen on the elevator at the hospital and staff were unsure whether he exited the building.
The hospital entered a “code black” lockdown but didn’t evacuate the premises. Hornell police, state police, and Steuben County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the incident and surrounded the building. Authorities and hospital staff searched the building, but didn’t find the man on the premises.
Police left the scene at approximately 5:10 p.m.
Authorities eventually spoke to the man at his residence and discovered he did have a valid pistol permit, according to the police official.

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