Wauwatosa Police Lift Lockdown at Children’s Wisconsin Hospital After Bomb Threat
Wauwatosa police lifted a lockdown at Children's Wisconsin's Milwaukee campus about 4:10 p.m. Wednesday after a bomb threat. Patients stayed in their rooms during the sweep. Boston Children's Hospital also reported a security threat the same day.
Wauwatosa police lifted a lockdown at the Children's Wisconsin Milwaukee Hospital Campus, a childrens hospital in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, after a bomb threat on Wednesday, November 11. Police said normal operations have resumed.
The lockdown began before 1:30 p.m. and was cleared around 4:10 p.m. Officers were on the scene for more than three hours.
Patients kept in their rooms
People were asked to avoid the area while police swept the campus. Patients inside the hospital were kept in their rooms during the search.
Aerial footage from a news helicopter showed security guards and Wauwatosa police blocking parking areas and hospital entrances.
Patients said they heard the announcement over the intercom. Alma Martinez Vazquez, who was inside during the lockdown, described the experience.
"It is scary," she said. "It's very scary not knowing what's going on, not being able to see. We are just in a bunch of walls with no windows."
She said not knowing where the threat was, or how patients were being kept safe, made it worse. "So it's terrifying and it's worrisome," Martinez Vazquez said.
Boston hospital also reports threat
The Wisconsin hospital was not the only children's hospital in the United States to face a threat on Wednesday. Boston Children's Hospital said it received a security threat that was investigated. The hospital has since given the all-clear.
Police have not said who made the Wisconsin threat or how it was delivered. The story was still developing when local reports were published.
