A police officer was killed and 5 different folks had been wounded when a person took medical workers hostage and opened hearth at a York, Pennsylvania, hospital on Saturday morning, officers mentioned.
The gunman, recognized by authorities as Diogenes Archangel Ortiz, 49, was additionally killed, authorities mentioned.
Two different regulation enforcement officers had been shot by the gunman and are in steady situation, York County District Legal professional Tim Barker mentioned at a day information convention.
An intensive care unit physician, nurse and a custodian suffered gunshot wounds and a fourth worker was injured in a fall, Barker mentioned.
The gunman had arrived on the hospital carrying a bag with a handgun and zip ties and went straight to the ICU, the place he held workers members hostage, Barker mentioned.
Officers had been making ready to confront the gunman and breach the ICU when Ortiz held an ICU worker hostage at gunpoint and ordered police to get again, in keeping with Barker.
“They did, so the particular person being held hostage wouldn’t be harmed, and had been trying to attempt to have interaction in dialogue with Mr. Archangel Ortiz,” Barker mentioned. The lady being held hostage additionally had her palms tied with zip ties, in keeping with Barker.
When Ortiz got here out into the hallway nonetheless holding the ICU worker at gunpoint, the officers opened hearth and fatally shot Ortiz, Barker confirmed.
The incident seems to have been particularly focused on the ICU, Barker mentioned. Within the earlier week, the gunman was in touch with the ICU for a medical objective involving one other particular person, in keeping with Barker.
“No sufferers have been injured. The hospital is now safe,” Susan Manko, spokesperson for UPMC Memorial in York, advised CNN.
The officer who died was Andrew Duarte, his division confirmed on Facebook.
“He was somebody who placed on the uniform of service and went out to attempt to maintain his neighbors protected,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro mentioned on the information convention. “He’s to be recommended for a lifetime of service, albeit lower method too quick from a lifetime of service to others. We’re deeply grateful to him.”
Pennsylvania misplaced “a hero,” Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Joseph Regan and York County Lodge #73 President Trent Bushman mentioned in a statement.
“Officer Duarte’s bravery and dedication to upholding the regulation are a testomony to the selflessness proven every day by those that have devoted themselves to defending and serving,” the assertion learn.
Witness describes scene of taking pictures
Betsy Small was visiting her mom on the hospital round 10:30 a.m. when she began to listen to “unusual noises, a number of exercise, after which alarms going off.”
When she seemed out the window, folks had been working, she mentioned, and a lady introduced one thing a few “lockdown” over the intercom system.
“I believed, oh one thing’s happening in right here, however you by no means assume it’s going to be a taking pictures, not in a hospital,” Small, 58, advised CNN.
When the alarms went off, Small mentioned she believes her hospital room door locked. She crouched down on the ground close to the window for security, her mom quick asleep in her hospital mattress all through all of the commotion.
Inside minutes, three or 4 police automobiles had arrived and officers had been working into the constructing with shields and weapons, she mentioned she noticed by the hospital room window.
For the following hour or so, Small watched by the hospital door window as nurses ran backwards and forwards on her ground whereas yelling at each other.
At 11:41 a.m., her daughter texted her {that a} shooter “had been taken out.”
As of three p.m., Small was not but allowed to go away the constructing and mentioned she has seen among the nurses crying with each other within the hallway.
“I really feel unhappy for everyone, truthfully I do. It’s a tragic scenario,” Small mentioned.
Shapiro mentioned through the information convention state and native leaders will work with affected well being care employees to make sure they’ve the sources to heal.
“I do know that the trauma that the well being care employees right here at this time needed to cope with isn’t one thing that goes away in a single day,” Shapiro mentioned.
“Day-after-day while you put in your white coat or your uniform of service to others right here on this fantastic hospital, or any hospital throughout Pennsylvania, you’re performing that perform since you care about your neighbors and also you need to be sure that they’re wholesome and protected. One thing like this could by no means, ever occur in your workplace.”
Pennsylvania state Sen. Daybreak Keefer and state Rep. Seth Grove mentioned in a joint statement they’re praying for “those that had been injured and for the family members’ dealing with an unthinkable act.”
“Our hearts exit to the victims, their households and all these affected by this mindless act of violence,” Keefer and Grove mentioned, thanking first responders “for his or her swift actions in securing the scene, treating the wounded and making certain the security of our group.”
UPMC Memorial, a 104-bed hospital, opened in August 2019 and gives emergency medical care, cardiology and vascular companies, power illness administration, and surgical companies. York is situated in southern Pennsylvania.
CNN’s Kia Fatahi, Sharif Paget, and Natalie Barr contributed to this report.
It is a growing story and will likely be up to date.
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