Officers responded to a report of a shooting Tuesday morning at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
The so-called "swatting" started with a call to the Newport Beach Police Department reporting shots fired at the hospital near Newport Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, police said.
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"Officers immediately responded to the scene and conducted a thorough search of the facility," but it was determined that the report was unfounded, police said in a social media dispatch.
"A similar false report occurred at another hospital in a nearby city last night," according to the NBPD, which said there was no active threat to the hospital or community.
"Swatting calls are illegal, dangerous and disruptive," police stated. "We take these incidents seriously and will continue working with our regional law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law."
The term swatting refers to the sometimes SWAT-style police response such false reports can generate.
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