LOS ANGELES (AP) - Employees, visitors and patients in wheelchairs and on gurneys streamed out of a Los Angeles hospital as it was partially evacuated Thursday following a report of a possible person with a gun, sheriff’s officials said.
A lengthy search ended without finding a suspect but authorities were still investigating, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
The initial report indicated that a staff member said she spotted a man with a weapon shortly after 9 a.m. at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley, Deputy Guillermina Saldana said. There were no reports of shots fired or of any injuries, she said.
Dozens of sheriff’s deputies and police officers responded and searched room by room as they evacuated portions of each floor of the six-story building on the north edge of the city.
Hospital spokeswoman Lois Ramirez said other areas were ordered locked down.
Appointments were canceled and arriving ambulances were diverted to other hospitals, Ramirez said.
Some patients were transported to nearby medical centers, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The 370-bed hospital in the Sylmar area serves much of the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.
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