Rose Medical Center In Denver On Lockdown For Possible Active Shooter
Rose Medical Center in Denver is on lockdown due to a possible active shooter, according to reports.
A report from Fox 31 noted that some streets around Denver’s Rose Medical Center were on lockdown due to the possibility of either an active shooter or a man with a gun.
“It appeared police officers were looking for a suspect and they established a large perimeter around the campus and parking garages,” Fox 31 said. “The focus was on the Rose Founders’ Building which has a surgical center along with doctors and other offices. The emergency there started about 3 p.m.”
With the emergency at Rose Medical Center in Denver beginning at 3 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, it would have been around 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, some two hours ago.
The local Fox affiliate reports that Denver police have asked the station’s helicopter to assist in efforts to locate an armed suspect around Rose Medical Center and the station appears willing to help.
According to Denver’s 9 News, a local spokesperson for Rose Medical Center has confirmed to the station that as of yet, no one has been reported injured as a result of the so far unconfirmed report of either an active shooter or an armed suspect on the run near Rose Medical.
The Denver Post said there are reports of shots fired at Rose Medical Center, which is the cause for such a large police presence.
“Rose Medical Center in Denver is ordering its staff and patients to shelter in place on Friday afternoon following reports of an active shooter. Denver police said they are responding to a report of shots heard, but said there is no confirmation.
“All inbound traffic to the hospital has been closed, Denver police said.
“Deborah Polhill, a spokeswoman for Rose Medical, said about 4:30 p.m. that the hospital was under a ‘code silver.'”
What does a code silver mean? The Denver Post reports that the hospital’s spokesperson confirms it is Rose Medical Center’s code for an active shooter and it orders all staff, patients, and visitors to shelter in place until the situation has been resolved.
The Post said the Denver Fire Department is following protocol and staging its equipment near Rose Medical Center. Additionally, it reports that the Veterans Administration hospital adjacent to Rose Medical Center in Denver is also on lockdown due to the suspected active shooter situation playing out across the street.
Should the situation in Denver’s Rose Medical Center be confirmed as an active shooter, it would not be the Denver area’s first experience with such tragedy and horror. As many will recall, two students entered Columbine High School in suburban Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, and killed a teacher and 12 others — injuring another 24 — before ultimately committing suicide.
In addition to the Columbine High School Shooting, suburban Denver has also been the home of another horrific mass shooting. At a July 20, 2012, late night screening of The Dark Knight, a shooter entered a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and killed 12 people and shot 58 more, making it one of the largest mass shootings in United States history.
With no confirmation of the situation at Rose Medical Center in Denver, it is hoped that this is simply a false alarm or an individual who is quickly captured before being able to cause injury or death.
For a quick recap, this is what we know: Rose Medical Center in Denver is currently on a “code silver” lockdown due to reports of an active shooter. So far, no injuries or deaths have been confirmed, nor has the active shooter situation. Police are on the scene and the Denver Fire Department has staged outside of Rose Medical Center, where the emergency call went out around 3 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
