A 40-year-old London resident is facing five criminal charges after a threat against a St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital employee led the hospital to call a Code Silver on Thursday afternoon.
The hospital says the threat was made at about 3:30 p.m. on October 8th, and it declared a Code Silver, which means a person with a weapon prompting St. Thomas Police to respond right away. As a precaution, the hospital was placed on what it calls “active hold,” and all of its public entrances were secured. The Code Silver was lifted at about 6 p.m., once it was confirmed there was no ongoing threat to the hospital.
The hospital is open
In an update posted at 9:45 a.m. Friday, the hospital said “this was not a hospital-wide attack” and that the hospital “is open, operating as normal, and remains a safe place to receive care.”
The charges
St. Thomas Police say officers went to the hospital due to a suspect threatening an employee. After investigating, officers arrested the 40-year-old and laid these charges:
- two counts of uttering threats to cause death
- one count of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
- one count of administering a noxious thing with intent to endanger life
- one count of mischief, destroying or damaging property
Police said the accused was being held in custody for a morning court appearance.
What the charges mean
Each charge is named for an offence in Canada’s Criminal Code. In plain terms:
- Uttering threats: knowingly threatening, in any way, to cause death or bodily harm to someone. Both counts here are threats to cause death.
- Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose: carrying or having a weapon for a purpose that is dangerous to the public peace, or to commit an offence.
- Administering a noxious thing: giving someone, or causing them to take, poison or another “destructive or noxious thing.” The Code has two versions of this offence, and the one charged here, with intent to endanger life, is the more serious.
- Mischief: wilfully destroying or damaging property.
What has not been released
Police and the hospital have not said what the weapon was, what the “noxious thing” was, or whether anyone was hurt. They have also not said whether the accused and the employee knew each other. The hospital asks that questions about the investigation go to St. Thomas Police.
Earlier police calls to the hospital
This is not the first time police have been called to the hospital over a weapon or threats. For example, in January 2025, officers went to the Emergency Department for a report of a person with a knife, and the person was taken into custody safely and given mental health supports. In August 2025, police charged a 17-year-old who, police said, threatened staff and assaulted nurses and three officers in the Emergency Department.
After the January incident, St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp said violence in hospitals is increasing across Ontario and Canada, and that police would keep working with the hospital on violence prevention.
What a Code Silver is
The hospital uses a set of standard colour codes, supported by the Ontario Hospital Association, so that staff, physicians and volunteers know what each emergency code means and how to respond. Code Red, for example, is a fire. The hospital’s emergency codes page lists Code Silver as an active shooter or armed intruder. The hospital has said the Ontario Hospital Association introduced Code Silver in 2016.
That guidance is written for the most dangerous form of the code, and its steps come in order. Patients and visitors are told to remain calm, to evacuate if it is safe to do so, and to hide if they cannot leave safely. Fighting is listed last, and only for someone who comes face to face with the person with the weapon.
Thursday’s code, the hospital says, followed a threat toward one employee and “was not a hospital-wide attack.” For any emergency, the hospital asks people who see something to tell the nearest hospital worker right away, because staff are trained to know what to do.
Staff have practised for this. In December 2018, more than 60 physicians, staff and volunteers took part in a Code Silver training exercise with St. Thomas Police.
Sources: St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital: statement and October 9th update regarding Code Silver, St. Thomas Police Service: update on the hospital investigation (Facebook), St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital: Emergency Codes
By Anthony Zruna · About the LocVox Newsroom
