The man responsible for two lockdowns Wednesday afternoon at Artesia General Hospital was arrested Wednesday evening in Roswell on unrelated warrants.
Artesia Police Department officers was initially dispatched to AGH at 12:44 p.m. Wednesday in reference to potential threats issued to the hospital by telephone. That lockdown was lifted at 1:51 p.m.; however, a second was initiated at 2:58 p.m. At that time, employees were instructed to stay away from windows and seek shelter. No incident occurred, and employees were released from lockdown around 4 p.m.
Cmdr. Lindell Smith of the APD says the male suspect may have experienced a “loss of reality, control or perspective episode” that prompted him to leave phone messages for at least one clinic at AGH. Officers were able to listen to the message, but Smith says they were unclear and difficult to hear.
The Roswell Police Department confirmed this afternoon that around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of Rancho Road in Roswell to investigate the threatening phone calls. There, they located Kerry Kent Williams, 57, who was wanted on five outstanding warrants – two for failure to pay child support, three for failure to appear.
Williams was arrested on those warrants only and booked into the Chaves County Detention Center, RPD Public Information Officer Todd Wildermuth said.
The APD will be following up with the hospital and the male individual to determine whether charges related to the threatening phone calls will be filed.
“Much of the issue from yesterday is connected to the male subject’s medical issues, many of the details of which are not releasable due to privacy laws,” Smith said.
