LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Police in Las Vegas are searching for "multiple juvenile runaways" after a fire alarm was pulled at a medical facility in Spring Valley.
The youths are said to have run away from Desert Winds Hospital at 5900 W. Rochelle Ave. just after 8 p.m. on Friday.
A spokesperson for the hospital, which offers residential psychiatric treatment for kids aged 12-18, said four adolescents had yet to return as of Monday afternoon.
"We continue to work closely with Las Vegas PD and salute the tremendous effort and resources they have dedicated to seeing all of our residents safely back at our facility," the hospital spokesperson stated.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said its Missing Persons Detail was engaged in an ongoing investigation.
According to the hospital spokesperson, a number of youths left the facility after "a resident snatched a nurse's badge while she was administering medication." That resident tried to leave their unit but couldn't because they didn't have proper electronic authentication.
That's when a group of teen residents are said to have pulled the fire alarm, which released the electronic locking system.
The Desert Winds spokesperson stressed that all of the facilities residential units are "manned 24/7 by mental health professionals and security," and the hospital's security system requires unique RFID (radio frequency identification) badges.
"Onsite personnel immediately alerted the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and called all parents," the spokesperson stated. Messages were left for parents who did not immediately answer, and staff "also immediately began sweeping the area" in search of the missing patients.
Some patients returned to the hospital immediately; others did not, including the four who were still unaccounted for as of this report.
Desert Winds Hospital CEO Lloyd Nobles issued this statement on the incident:
"The care and safety of our residents is our #1 priority. All receive treatment from highly qualified, caring behavioral health professionals who work diligently to help stabilize their conditions, giving their families hope. Some of these residents are being treated with medication, but it is not believed that they are a danger to the public."
This report will be updated with additional information as it is released.
