MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center Lockdown Lifted: Gunfire Reported

*UPDATE* KWWL reports police found damage from a discharged weapon in a restroom, at which time they began to investigate, finding the responsible individual off-grounds. This person, not yet identified, claimed to police the weapon was fired accidentally. The person said they "got scared" and fled, according to a Waterloo Police Facebook posting.

ORIGINAL

A startling moment several days before the end of the year shocked the Cedar Valley. On the morning of Friday, December 29th reports of gunfire at MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center came in.

Claims have been circulating on social media regarding what exactly transpired at the hospital on Friday (December 29th).

However, according to some reports that corroborated with local authorities and officials from MercyOne, police arrived at the Waterloo hospital at approximately 9:30 AM Friday morning.

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This was in response to a report of a gunshot inside the hospital. Reports say the initial belief was that it was a single gunshot that came from inside of a restroom.

MercyOne, located at 3421 West 9th Street, was placed on lockdown and reports claim that people with appointments were being turned away by staff members.

The lockdown did not last for too long. Officials say that the lockdown was over by approximately 11:10 AM.

We have reached out to officials from the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Department regarding this incident and have yet to hear back. As of right now, there seem to be no reports of any injuries from staff, patients, or police.

We will keep you updated as more information regarding the incident is released. This remains a developing story.

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