Armed Man Triggers Active Shooter Response At Redwood City Hospital
REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A man brandishing a replica handgun and a knife at a Kaiser hospital in Redwood City early Friday morning triggered an active shooter response from police, leading to the suspect's arrest.
On Friday morning at around 6:30 a.m., Redwood City police officers responded to a report of an active shooter inside the Kaiser Hospital emergency room. The reporting party said shots were heard and that the armed male suspect was brandishing a knife inside the hospital lobby.
The first responding officers arrived on scene within two minutes of the call, entering the hospital and locating the suspect. The suspect immediately complied with officers' verbal commands and dropped the weapons, a large knife and what was later turned out to be a realistic replica handgun onto the floor.
The suspect, later identified as 56-year-old Thomas Smith of Redwood City, was taken into custody and placed under arrest without further incident.
Smith had threatened a Kaiser employee with the knife and brandished the replica handgun while threatening to kill him. Officers determined that no shots were fired and no victims were injured during the incident.
Smith was transported to a local hospital for treatment of a minor self-inflicted injury. Afterwards, he was booked into the San Mateo County jail on multiple charges including attempted murder, brandishing a deadly weapon and making terrorist threats.
