Threat reported at Rex Hospital in Raleigh
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Raleigh police were called to Rex Hospital's campus Friday morning after someone reported a threat.
Shortly after 9 a.m., a threatening call came in directed at the Medical Plaza at 4414 Lake Boone Trail, according to Alan Wolfe with Rex Hospital.
The nature of the threat is unknown, but Wolfe said the matter was taken very seriously.
Initially, the whole Rex campus was placed on lockdown, but was later lifted around 10 a.m. for everything except the Medical Plaza. The lockdown on the Plaza was lifted just before noon.
The response was so large that police ended up setting up a staging area across Lake Boone trail to allow patient movement on the hospital campus. That movement began when the campus-wide lockdown ended 45 minutes after it started.
Raleigh resident Bennie Newton was with a doctor the Medical Plaza Building where the threat had been phoned in.
"It was kind of scary," said Newton. "While I was in the room with him [the doctor], he actually got an alert on his computer. He said, 'Did you notice anything about a police officer or anything in the area?' I said, 'No sir, I did not.' He said, 'Well, obviously there's some kind of threat or alert.' He said, 'Once you get through with this, I need you to go into the conference room. We can't let you out of the building.'"
Newton said staffers locked the doors to the office he was in.
"All I know is that it was concerning enough that it warranted a response," said Rex Healthcare CEO Steve Burriss. "The Raleigh Police Department was great to respond along with the Rex Protective Services Department to make sure that everybody was safe and taken care of."
Police told ABC11 that they are still sorting out the matter and have not released any other details.
