The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital underwent a lockdown Tuesday in response to a shooting threat, Oak Bluffs police chief Jonathan Searle confirmed Friday.
The Oak Bluffs police department assisted in the lockdown after a call came in at 5:24 p.m. Tuesday.
Hospital spokeswoman Marissa Lafebvre said the lockdown lasted about an hour, and praised the hospital’s response.
“It went pretty well,” she said. “We definitely made sure everyone was O.K. and we took all necessary precautions.”
Mr. Searle said Chilmark police responded to the threat, determined to have come from an woman known to authorities.
“To our knowledge she was making the cell phone call from Chilmark,” Mr. Searle said.
He said the woman made a veiled threat to a counselor off-Island, resulting in the hospital and police to follow protocol for such threats. The hospital was on lockdown until the woman was later found by Chilmark police and taken for a mental health evaluation.
“It wasn’t a high probability that she was going to act on the threats,” Mr. Searle said.
Mr. Searle did not name the woman, citing the mental health nature of the call. He said police found no evidence she was capable of carrying out a threat.
