‘Swatting’ Call At Loma Linda Hospital Prompts Massive Police Response

LOMA LINDA, CA — Police swarmed Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital in response to a report of an active shooter Wednesday night. The hospital was placed on lockdown, and ‘all-clear’ was ultimately give nearly two hours later, with police blaming the incident on a “swatting call.”

Officers by the hundreds responded to reports of an active shooter at the pediatric unit shortly before 6:30 p.m. But at around 8:15 p.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced on X that they had found no signs of an actual shooter at the hospital.

“Loma Linda Hospital has been cleared,” the agency said. “There are no reported injuries, and the incident appears to be a swatting call.”

Staff Warned Of Possible Shooter

Loma Linda Medical Center staffers told Patch that they were ordered to hide due to an active shooter in the children’s hospital.

“We are aware of reports of a possible armed individual at Loma Linda Hospital,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced. “Deputies are on scene and actively clearing the facility. Please avoid the area and use alternative routes.”

Hundreds of police patrol cars from multiple law enforcement agencies surrounded the hospital.

One hospital worker, who asked not to be named in this article for safety reasons, said the warning about an active shooter came at 6:15 p.m.

“We were in the emergency room doing our routines,” she said. “They just told us to go hide — there’s a shooting.”

The worker said she was told the shooting started in the children’s unit. She and others found a ‘grievance room’ to hide in and lock the door.

“We were hiding the patients, we were hiding ourselves,” she said.

Almost an hour later, there was a knock at the door.

“I felt scared because I didn’t know if it was the shooter or sheriff’s,” she said.

Five or six sheriff’s deputies had arrived to escort the group of four out of the building.

‘Run, Hide, Fight’

Students at the medical campus and surrounding building also received a text warning, “This is not a drill: Initiate immediate protective actions. If confronted with a threat, RUN, HIDE, FIGHT,” the text read.

Patch spoke to a group of medical students who were on the labor and delivery ward when they received the text alert from hospital security. It was a CODE SILVER alert, meaning an armed threat was in the building, the students said.

Subsequent texts warned incoming shifts to stay away from the campus or to hide in place if already in the parking structure. The updates continued until they finally received an “all-clear” message around 8 p.m.

“Law enforcement has completed their investigation and confirmed that there is no active threat,” a text sent to hospital staffers and the medical students said.

After the students evacuated the building, they huddled together in prayer.

“So being medical students, we chose Loma Linda for the faith-based institution, and that is in all types of situations,” medical student Johnna Torres explained. “My go-to, whether it’s with patients going through something hard or in times like this where there’s so many unknowns, and it’s so scary and so many people full of anxiety… being able to go to God in prayer is really a unifying and encouraging way to kind of manage and deal with the feelings.”

The students were beginning their evening shifts, working in the sign-out room when they got the first alert.

“We put up paper in front of the window, turned the lights off, and then in true healthcare fashion continued sign out because the patients still had to be taken care of,” Torres said. “We ended up in the call room because it’s a double-locked system with an ID and like a deadbolt, and we were just in there with the lights off with all of the resident physicians.”

Many of the patients hid in their bathrooms.

“We did have one mom that was pushing actively when the thing went out and our attending physician stayed in the room with her the whole time and delivered the baby in the room and then once the baby was delivered, everyone was safe and she was able to go,” Torres said.

Ultimately, when word of the “all-clear” arrived, the students were relieved to hear nobody was hurt.

As of 8:30 p.m., some area roadways remained closed, but were expected to reopen shortly.