A false report of an armed gunman at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville over the weekend sparked a massive police response from nearby towns, including from the Yonkers Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit.
Members from the unit were on scene late Sunday night helping out their “Brothers in Blue” in Bronxville.
Capt. Patrick Rooney is the ESU's commanding officer, and was at the chaotic scene outside the hospital.
"My job, in that instance is to coordinate with the other tactical commanders from other jurisdictions, and to be in touch with my team leaders who are running the teams actually operational that night up on the upper floors of hospital,” he says.
While the Emergency Service Unit couldn't get confirmation right away, they had to treat it as an active shooter incident. Crews responded immediately, including deploying a 15,000-pound armored truck.
"This would respond, either, it could provide cover for us if someone was shooting down at us from a window, it will let us approach the building and we can deploy without being hurt,” says Sgt. Daniel Barahona, of the Yonkers Police Department.
Barahona says they all performed exactly as they were trained, and that is what they hope and expect in these situations.