Shawnee Police Arrest Man Who Made Violent Threats At Saint Anthony Hospital

Shawnee police said a man is behind bars after he made several threats towards people at the city’s SSM Health St. Anthony hospital.

Shawnee Police Department Corporal Vivian Lozano said the department received a call from SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital Shawnee around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

They said 59-year-old Jay Jay Levit Woody threatened staff members.

“He had a brother that was at the hospital and he, for whatever reason, was upset with the staff and he made some threats towards the hospital staff,” Lozano said. “Officers responded. They were eventually able to locate him.”

Shawnee police, along with the Oklahoma Baptist University police, responded. Woody was arrested on complaints of threats of violent acts.

SSM Health St. Anthony released a statement after the incident. 

“The safety of our patients and staff is a top priority for us and we are grateful for the quick response of our security team, employees and the Shawnee Police Department in yesterday’s situation. SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital – Shawnee has safety procedures and related staff training in place for a wide variety of potential scenarios, from pandemics to severe weather, to active shooter scenarios and much more. We continually review our safety and response measures at all locations to ensure we are in the best position possible to keep our patients and our Saints in Action in safe, healing environments.”

The threat comes a week after the mass shooting at a hospital in Tulsa.

Once they made contact with Woody, Lozano said they found out he was unarmed.

“Any threat, no matter how small, big or little it is, we take it very serious regardless of the situation,” Lozano said. “We have to be very careful because we treat every suspect like they do have a weapon until we know otherwise to keep our officers and the community safe.”

Police said the hospital went on lockdown while officers responded. No one was hurt.