Bomb threat evacuates medical building near The Woodlands

Law enforcement investigate reports of a bomb threat on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, at Medical Arts Center III by St. Luke's Hospital in The Woodlands. Law enforcement investigate reports of a bomb threat on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, at Medical Arts Center III by St. Luke's Hospital in The Woodlands. Photo: Michael Minasi/Houston Chronicle Photo: Michael Minasi/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Bomb threat evacuates medical building near The Woodlands 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

THE WOODLANDS – Montgomery County Sheriff's Office detectives are investigating the second bomb scare in a heavily trafficked building in less than a month after a typed-out note stated a threat to blow up a medical office near The Woodlands early Wednesday.

Officials evacuated the Medical Arts Center III, located at 17450 St. Luke's Way, around 8:30 a.m. after receiving word of the threat. The medical building is a part of CHI St. Luke's Health – The Woodlands Hospital, although it is detached from the main hospital building at Interstate 45 and Texas 242.

A bomb-sniffing K9 with the Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office checked the building and found no explosives. Detectives recovered the letter, but officials were not able to release many details about the letter as the investigation continues. Detectives did not know how it got into the hands of one of the building's tenants.

"There's probably some language choice (in the letter) that could lead us to someone we need to talk to," MCSO Capt. Bryan Carlisle said. "That's part of the investigation."

Carlisle did say the note contained specific instructions but was unable to explain what those were.

Interrupted Medicine

"I had a 9 o'clock appointment and took the elevator up to the third floor," said Spring resident Bill Burns, who was on his way to a follow-up appointment after having heart surgery weeks ago.

"The second floor people got on with a deputy telling them 'we're evacuating,'" Burns said. "I went to the third floor and checked in. That's where the elevator went next. I picked up my paperwork, and they said 'we're leaving.'"

Carlisle said it took deputies about 20 minutes to evacuate the four-floor building since some patients were in need of medical care. Many clinics in the building cancelled their appointments, including the podiatry office where Juanny Gonzalez, MA, works.

"We saw all the cars and the officers going in there and thought they were looking for somebody at first," Gonzalez said. "Then they said everybody needed to get out. They didn't say (it was) a bomb threat until a little bit later, until we were almost out of the door in our office. We had patients and we had to let them out and make sure they were getting out OK. I'm sure they didn't want any patients to know it was a bomb threat until everybody was out because of panic."

Serious Threats

Wednesday's bomb threat is the second of its kind in Montgomery County since a 911 caller reported a bomb inside a district courtroom in Conroe on May 11.

The call came in around 8:15 a.m. with the caller reporting they knew of someone who had the bombs inside Judge Lisa Michalk's 221st state District Court room. The court is located inside the Lee G. Alworth county annex building in the 200 block of W. Phillips Street in Conroe, which was evacuated along with two other court buildings soon after the call came in.

Court staff, attorneys and bailiffs were all evacuated as law enforcement and bomb squad personnel search the building. About an hour and a half later, officials gave the all-clear for the court buildings having found no bombs.

Carlisle said Wednesday detectives will determine whether the two are connected, although detectives did not say the two were apparently connected.

"We take every threat seriously," Carlisle said. "In this day and age, with the threat we're under, this is normal protocol for us."

Detectives are still investigating both threats. Anyone with information is urged to call 936-760-5876 or Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at 800-392-STOP (7867).