Local police responded early Thursday afternoon to a bomb threat at Rochelle Community Hospital.
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ROCHELLE — Ogle County Sheriff's Police along with Rochelle Police and Fire Departments were on scene at Rochelle Community Hospital Thursday following the report of a bomb threat. No injuries were reported.
The threat was one of three locations in Ogle County.
Law enforcement agencies across the state and around the nation reported a similarly-worded email where the writer demanded money.
Rochelle Police Chief Eric Higby said his department responded and met with fire department and hospital staff to devise a plan. A bomb sniffing dog was also called to the scene. The hospital was placed on a lockdown, along with May School on soft lockdown for precaution.
After hospital management were briefed, all nonessential employees were sent home while law enforcement and maintenance staff searched the entire building. The hospital announced on their social media that a security threat had been detected and advised the community to avoid the area until further notice.
Around 2:30 the hospital was deemed safe.
At a press conference late Thursday afternoon, law enforcement along with hospital administrators gave an update on the situation.
"Staff immediately responded quietly and calmly to us wanting to meet with them and everybody followed policy and protocol," said Julia Norem, Chief Nursing Officer. "I thought they did an excellent job. They remained calm and helped secure the doors. I couldn't have expected it to go better."
At the time of the threat there were two patients in surgery and two in the ER, along with four inpatients.
Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said the Davis Junction village hall and the library in Polo also received threats. Sheriff's deputies first responded to Davis Junction and determined it was a phishing or spam-type email. Shortly thereafter, the department heard about the threat at Rochelle Community Hospital.
"Our deputies and myself responded to the hospital to determine if it was the same type of call, and about 45 minutes after being at the hospital we received information from the state that it was a nationwide event and it was being reported across the country," VanVickle said. "The bomb sniffing dog was requested because at the time we didn't know it was so widespread. We were trying to get the hospital back operational and confirm that there was no threat to the hospital and to the public."
