by COURIER staff

Police were called Monday evening after a bomb was found at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

Officers from Pomona PD and L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. Bomb Squad got the 9:04 p.m. call from hospital security staff after a canine unit alerted them to an explosive device in the facility.

The device turned out to be a PVC pipe bomb with endcaps and a fuse. The bomb was brought into the hospital by a suspect who arrived via ambulance from West Covina after being injured in a traffic accident there, according to a news release from Pomona PD. Doctors say the suspect was rushed to PVHMC, at 1798 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, because of its comprehensive trauma center.

After reaching the hospital, the suspect was wheeled into the first-floor emergency room before the canine alerted authorities to the device.

The hospital was not evacuated, “but as a precaution the main entrance to the emergency room was shut down,” police said. Ambulances were rerouted to other area hospitals for one hour and streets adjacent to the hospital were closed to traffic.

After securing the scene, the LASD bomb squad defused the device at about 11:40 p.m.

The unnamed suspect was not arrested, pending further investigation. A preliminary investigation determined the hospital was not the intended target of the bomb.

Anyone with information that may assist in the case can call Pomona police at (909) 620-2085, or the anonymous tip line at (800) 222-8477.