COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two separate hospitals in Springfield, Ohio were placed under a brief lockdown Saturday morning after receiving bomb threats.
Security members at Kettering Health Springfield were notified of a bomb threat at approximately 6:50 a.m. and locked down the facility. Officers with the Springfield Police Department were then called in to search the premises with the security team.
Nothing suspicious was found and the lockdown was lifted around 7:15 a.m., a hospital spokesperson told 10TV.
According to CBS affiliate WHIO’s website, Mercy Health-Springfield Regional Medical Center also received a bomb threat just after 6 a.m.
“Mercy Health immediately put the hospital on lockdown while local authorities conducted a thorough search of the facility, in conjunction with our onsite security team,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.
Nothing was found at Springfield Regional Medical Center and the threat was determined to be not credible, the spokesperson told WHIO.
The city has received several other threats this week, including threats that bombs had been placed in the homes of Springfield's mayor and other city officials, City Hall, a high school, middle school, two elementary schools and the local office of the state motor vehicles bureau.
The city has received national attention since Monday when it was maliciously distorted by false rumors that Haitian immigrants are eating their neighbors' pets. The claims were brought up by former President Donald Trump during Tuesday's debate.
Officials in Springfield have tried to tamp down the misinformation by saying there have been no credible or detailed reports of any pets being abducted or eaten. State leaders are trying to help address some of the real challenges facing the city.
Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday he would add more law enforcement and health care resources to an aid package the state has already provided to Springfield.