A 56-year-old man was arrested today on suspicion of threatening an employee in the emergency room of the Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City while armed with a large knife and replica handgun, police said.
Redwood City police responded to the hospital at 6:33 a.m. on a report of an active shooter inside the ER of the hospital at 1100 Veteran Blvd.
“A reporting party advised shots were heard and that a male subject was brandishing a knife inside the hospital lobby,” according to police.
Within two minutes, responding officers entered the hospital and located the suspect, who complied with their commands to drop the knife and “realistic” looking gun. The suspect, identified as Thomas Smith of Redwood City, was taken into custody.
Officers determined no shots were fired and no victims were injured, but police said Smith threatened the employee with the knife and brandished the gun while threatening to kill him.
Smith was transported to a local hospital for treatment of a minor, self-inflicted injury and was later booked into the San Mateo County jail for various charges including attempted murder, brandishing a deadly weapon and making terrorist threats, police said.
The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with additional information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact Detective Sergeant Ed Conover at 650-780-7159.
