By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A quarrel between a patient and a visitor led to the dispatch “in an abundance of caution” of city police to Atmore Community Hospital (ACH) last Wednesday, March 22.
Atmore Police Department Sgt. Darrell McMann said this week that dispatchers sent all available units to the local hospital after receiving a report of a possible gunshot at the medical center.
“A patient was arguing with a visitor and threw a cup that hit the floor,” McMann said. “The staff thought it was a gunshot and hit the panic button.”
ACH Administrator Brad Lowery issued a statement in the wake of the incident, saying the need to make sure the hospital’s staff and patients were safe was the primary reason police were called.
“Today there was an incident that, in an abundance of caution, the authorities were called to the hospital to ensure the safety of our staff and of our patients,” Lowery said in the statement, which was posted on the medical center’s Facebook page. “We recognize that many of you have family members that may be patients or employees of Atmore Community Hospital and want to ensure that you do not have misinformation related to today’s police presence.”
APD officers raced to the hospital, conducted a brief but thorough investigation, and concluded that no threat existed.
“We appreciate our police department’s swift response and can confirm that we are all-clear,” the ACH administrator wrote.
McMann said no arrests were made, nor were any expected in the future.
“The thrower of the cup was not arrested, and the person they were arguing with is not under investigation either,” he said.