Mercy Regional Medical Center’s emergency room was in lockdown briefly Thursday while police investigated a report of a woman walking toward the hospital with a gun in her mouth.
The woman made the call at 12:27 p.m. to dispatch. Police later determined the call to be a hoax.
The woman has a history of making such phone calls, said Lt. Darrell Robertson, with the Durango Police Department. Police were able to “ping” the phone, which indicated it was located in Aztec. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office (New Mexico) was notified and responded.
“This is not the first incident with this phone number or caller,” Robertson wrote in an email to the Herald.
The emergency room was in lockdown for about 20 minutes while police searched the area, said David Bruzzese, spokesman for the hospital.
shane@durangoherald.com
