Shooting Scare Rattles Major Houston Hospital

By Andrew Kragie, Houston Chronicle

Feb. 22--The morning after reports of shots fired at Houston's bustling Ben Taub Hospital prompted a two-hour lockdown and tense search of the building, a police investigation suggests the incident was prompted by mistaken reports.

"At this point it's believed that it was an overheard and non-confirmed statement that triggered the whole thing," Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said.

After interviewing all known potential witnesses, Senties said, investigators are preparing to close the case -- unless new information emerges.

Police have said they do not have reason to believe the incident was an intentional hoax and that authorities responded appropriately.

"It wasn't a mistake; there was a specific reason (we responded)," Chief Art Acevedo said Tuesday outside the hospital. "We had multiple witnesses that heard a man yell, 'Drop the gun, drop the gun.' Multiple people heard two large bangs. Whether or not those were gunshots is subject to further investigation."

Houston police were searching floor by floor at Ben Taub Hospital after responding to multiple reports of shots fired at Ben Taub hospital Tuesday afternoon. Although an early report indicated a shooter had been cornered on a floor of the hospital, Acevedo said that no evidence had yet been found of an active shooter or shooting.

The scare began just before 2 p.m. Tuesday when hospital staff members initiated a "Code White," the hospital's protocol for a suspected active shooter, said Bryan McLeod, a spokesman for Harris Health, the agency that runs county hospitals including Ben Taub.

Barbara Mushinski, a nurse in an upstairs clinic, said colleagues on the second floor told her they heard gunshots and someone say to put down a gun. Her colleagues barricaded themselves inside a room, while Mushinski evacuated.

SWAT team members and other officers spent two hours scouring the hospital's six floors and basement but found no gun, no shooter, no shooting victim and no evidence of gunfire such as bullet holes or spent casings.

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