Newport Hospital was the target of an apparent “swatting” call Sunday morning when someone phoned in a false bomb threat, prompting a sweep by police and a Rhode Island State Police bomb detection K-9 unit, authorities said.
The Newport Police Department responded to the reported threat at 7:02 a.m. on May 17, according to a news release from Capt. Joseph C. Carroll, the department’s public information officer.
Officers secured the area and, with help from state police, conducted what Carroll described as a thorough search of the property. No credible threat to public safety was found, he said.
Police said they believe the incident was a “swatting” call — a false emergency report, often involving claims of a bomb threat or active shooter, made to provoke a large law enforcement response.
“These false reports are dangerous, unlawful, and divert emergency resources away from legitimate calls for service,” Carroll said in the release.
Sunday’s incident is the second threat against Newport Hospital in just over a week. On May 9, the hospital was placed on lockdown after a man called the hospital’s switchboard and threatened to “shoot the place up” with a rifle at 4 p.m. Police later determined there was no credible threat in that case as well.
Police did not say whether the two incidents are believed to be connected.
The Newport Police Department said it will maintain vigilant patrols in the hospital area. The investigation is ongoing.
Newport Hospital, part of Brown University Health, is the only acute care hospital on Aquidneck Island.
This is a developing story. What’sUpNewp will update as more information becomes available.
