Police respond to incident Friday at VA medical clinic in Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs police decided not to arrest a man who became upset Friday morning inside the Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic in Colorado Springs.
At around 8:30 a.m., police responded to a call about a possible active shooting situation at the clinic near the intersection of Fillmore Street and Centennial Boulevard.
Another call stated that the unidentified man, apparently a patient in the clinic's third-floor mental health ward, was armed with razor blades and may have threatened others or himself.
Police determined that the man had no weapons, and that no one was hurt.
Christopher Willner, an Army veteran, was at the clinic for an appointment when the incident happened.
"We started hearing some sort of code being called over he speaker system," he said. "People started running down from upstairs asking someone to call the police or 911. Everyone seemed surprised by it. The voice on the speaker system sounded panicked. They prepared to evacuate the building but ultimately decided not to."
Willner said the situation lasted 10 to 15 minutes before authorities declared it under control, and that he wasn't worried.
"There are security officers but no metal detectors or anything like that," he said. "It wouldn't hurt to have more security, but I don't think it'd be foolproof."
It's unclear why the man was upset.