Boston Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts Gets All-Clear After Bomb Threat

Boston police sent officers to Boston Children's Hospital on Wednesday afternoon after a bomb threat was reported at the hospital in the Longwood Medical Area. Boston police said in an email to NBC Boston that units were on scene at 300 Longwood Avenue, the hospital's address, for a report of a bomb threat, and that the threat came in at 1:24 p.m.

Aerial images from the scene showed multiple Boston police cruisers outside the hospital entrance while officers checked the report. NBC Boston reported that few other details were immediately available, and police did not say in that first account how the threat had arrived or who made it. Boston 25 News later listed the hospital as given the all-clear following the reported bomb threat.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, reporting on a separate bomb threat the same day at Children's Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, said Boston Children's was among the pediatric hospitals that received bomb threats this week that turned out to be hoaxes. That line matches the all-clear reported in Boston: police responded, the hospital was checked, and no device was reported found.

A week of threats at children's hospitals

Wednesday's report in Boston was not the only one of its kind this week. In Wauwatosa, Children's Wisconsin put its Milwaukee campus on lockdown just after 1:30 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday after a bomb threat. Wauwatosa police searched the campus, found nothing suspicious, and lifted the lockdown shortly after 4 p.m. Central Time, saying the investigation found no credible threat and normal operations had resumed.

On Sunday, November 8, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, was shut down as a precaution after police received calls about a bomb threat shortly before 11 a.m. St. Petersburg police searched the building, found no bomb, and the hospital reopened the same day. Police there said the investigation was ongoing and did not identify who made the calls.

What is known, and what is not

The confirmed Boston facts are short. A bomb threat was reported. It came in at 1:24 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11. Boston police sent units to 300 Longwood Avenue. Cruisers were seen outside the entrance. The hospital was later given the all-clear, and the threat was counted among this week's hoaxes at pediatric hospitals.

What officials have not released is just as clear. No Boston report in the sources above names a suspect, describes an arrest, or explains how the threat was delivered. No injuries were reported in the Boston accounts. Families with appointments should follow direct word from Boston Children's Hospital and Boston police for any change to schedules, and Orbit Post will update this story if police release more.