Miscommunication between two employees led to a heavy police presence at a hotel in Casper on Friday afternoon.

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Per a statement given to K2 Radio News from the Casper Police Department, the Public Safety Communication Center received a call from an employee of the hotel, stating that there was a situation unfolding in a hotel room, involving a gunman and possible hostages.

That information was reported to the dispatch center from an employee, who gathered the information from another employee, who is hearing-impaired.

Multiple officers responded to the call and entered the building. While some officers were searching the specified hotel room, other officers were communicating with the hearing-impaired employee, who provided details on what actually happened.

The employee was able to communicate to officers that she was cleaning a hotel room with two guests inside, when she discovered a firearm.

The employee told a co-worker that she found a firearm in the hotel room but, due to miscommunication, the co-worker thought she was saying that there was a possible gunman and hostage situation unfolding in the room.

The hearing-impaired employee told police that she did not feel threatened, but that she was frightened by the situation, which led her to tell the co-worker, who then called the police.

"With this new, accurate information, officers were able to clear the rest of the area and clear the scene," the statement read. "From the time the situation was reported, to the time officers cleared the scene, 44 minutes had elapsed."

There was no threat to the public during, or as a result, of this situation and the situation was not criminal in nature.

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