Threats made against hospitals in two separate incidents resulted in the arrests of a Pennsylvania man and Missouri woman this month.
In the first case, a 28-year-old employee of Mon General Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., was arrested and charged with felony terroristic threats after staff told security guards he threatened to "shoot up" the hospital if he was terminated, according to a May 23 report from West Virginia Metro News.
Codie Holbert is a resident of Uniontown, Pa., and known to carry firearms, witnesses told police. Witnesses said he entered the hospital on the day of his arrest carrying a backpack, which was seized by police as part of an investigation. He is being held on $50,000 bond.
In another case, a 34-year-old woman was charged with first-degree terrorist threat and institutional vandalism after repeated threats were made against Aurora (Mo.) Mercy Hospital.
The hospital received several threats of gun violence being committed on site and contacted its local police department the week of May 14 to investigate. The Aurora and Marionville Police Department was able to identify the suspect, Alicia Stotts. The context in which the alleged threats were made is not clear. Ms. Stotts has been denied bond.
"Our colleagues at the hospital are busy saving lives," the police department said in a May 22 statement. "This type of behavior and these types of threats will be taken seriously and will result in arrest. The 1st amendment does not protect threatening speech designed to cause fear of a major incident. We will not take any chances by assuming threats are not real."