Columbus police arrest suspect in threat against St. Francis-Emory Healthcare hospital
A suspect accused of threatening a Columbus hospital has been arrested.
James Woodall Jr. was charged with making a terroristic threat against St. Francis-Emory Healthcare, Columbus Police Department spokesman Sgt. Aaron Evrard told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Friday.
Woodall is scheduled for a hearing in Recorder’s Court at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
CPD issued a news release Friday night that publicly disclosed for the first time the nature of the March 30 threat and how it was delivered.
“The witnesses informed the officers that the hospital received two telephone calls from a person stating that they were going to blow up the hospital,” the news release says. “Later, the hospital received two threatening emails.”
Although the hospital increased its security presence after the threat, it was running “business as usual” and no services were interrupted, St. Francis spokesman Grant Farrimond told the L-E then.
According to CPD’s incident report, Woodall, 56, was unarmed when he was arrested without resistance at 1:13 p.m. March 31 at a residence on Conrad Drive in Columbus.
Asked for his reaction to the arrest and whether the hospital’s security presence still is at an increased level, Farrimond told the L-E in an email Friday, “Out of an abundance of caution, St. Francis-Emory Healthcare will continue enhanced security throughout the weekend. The safety of our patients, visitors and staff remain our absolute first priority. We continue to work closely with the Columbus Police Department and its ongoing investigation.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 11:45 AM.
