Man arrested after bomb threat at Royal University Hospital

Royal University Hospital (RUH) in Saskatoon was on high alert for about three hours Wednesday afternoon after a bomb threat.

According to Saskatoon police, officers were called to the hospital campus around 11:30 a.m. about a man in a vehicle who was possibly armed with an explosive device outside the ambulance bay.

Emergency services responded in full force: members of the police patrol, crisis negotiation team, tactical support unit, canine unit, and explosive disposal unit responded, along with the Saskatoon fire department, emergency management organization, and Medavie Health Services West.

Police said the 47-year-old man didn’t end up having a bomb, and officers managed to get him to exit the vehicle himself — police later searched the vehicle and didn’t find anything dangerous. The man was arrested under the Mental Health Services Act.

During the incident, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) had called a Code Black at the RUH and Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital ER. Both buildings were locked down with restricted access.

One doctor said she and her co-workers were uneasy when they heard about the Code Black.

“It was just alarming that there wasn’t more information about what to do,” she told 650 CKOM.

The hospitals opened back up after the threat ended, and the SHA said patient and staff access to the ER, appointments and shifts were to resume as planned. Any appointments that were impacted were expected to be given alternate arrangements.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include new information as the situation unfolded