SWAT Team Called To Folsom Hospital After Armed Man, 32, Threatens Staff
FOLSOM (CBS13) — A SWAT team responded to the Mercy Hospital in Folsom overnight after an armed suspect allegedly walked in and threatened staff.
The incident happened around 2 a.m. at the hospital along Creekside Drive.
Authorities say the man came in seeking treatment, but also reportedly had a gun in a holster. Hospital staff asked the man to put the gun in his car, but he allegedly did not comply.
Hospital staff says the man then started acting erratic and was destructive with property.
"Hospital staff did a really good job clearing out their lobby while officers were en route getting initially, getting everybody out of harm's way," said Melanie Calanio with Folsom Police.
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Officers and eventually a SWAT and crisis negotiations team were called to the scene.
The man, identified as 32-year-old Somerset resident Brian Steffes, was then taken into custody. He is being evaluated, but authorities say he will be booked into jail facing a number of charges.
A hospital spokesperson would not say what Steffes was seeking treatment for. But given the ongoing health crisis gripping our nation, response now has to be measured.
"In a critical incident like that, our first thought is not to throw on protective equipment, as far as masks and gloves, our first thought is to get there and take action," Calanio said.
Folsom Police, like many law enforcement agencies now, has a protocol in place where dispatchers ask certain health questions before an officer is sent out. A new protocol in place in a new normal, when seconds save lives.
Normal operations have resumed at the hospital.
