Officer killed after a gunman took hostages at Pennsylvania hospital
Authorities say a gunman entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit and took employees members hostage earlier than he was killed by police in a shootout that additionally left an officer lifeless.
YORK, Pa. – A person armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit Saturday and took employees members hostage earlier than he was killed by police in a shootout that additionally left an officer lifeless, authorities mentioned.
Three staff at UPMC Memorial Hospital, together with a health care provider, a nurse and a custodian, and two different officers have been shot and wounded within the assault, York County District Legal professional Tim Barker mentioned. A fourth staffer was injured in a fall.
What we all know:
A person armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit Saturday and took employees members hostage earlier than he was killed by police in a shootout that additionally left an officer lifeless, authorities mentioned.
Three staff at UPMC Memorial Hospital, together with a health care provider, a nurse and a custodian, and two different officers have been shot and wounded within the assault, York County District Legal professional Tim Barker mentioned. A fourth staffer was injured in a fall.
Gunfire erupted after officers went to have interaction the shooter, whom Barker recognized as Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49. He mentioned Archangel-Ortiz was holding at gunpoint a feminine employees member who had her fingers sure with zip ties when police opened hearth.
“This can be a large loss to our group,” Barker mentioned at a press convention following the capturing. “It’s completely clear, and past any and all doubt, that the officers have been justified in taking their motion utilizing lethal pressure.”
Barker added that whereas the investigation is in its early levels, it seems Archangel-Ortiz had earlier contact with the hospital’s ICU earlier within the week for “a medical objective involving one other particular person” and he deliberately focused the employees there.
In regards to the officer:
The officer who died was recognized as Andrew Duarte of the West York Borough Police Division.
“All of us have damaged hearts and are grieving his loss,” West York Borough Supervisor Shawn Mauck instructed The Related Press.
Duarte was a legislation enforcement veteran who joined the division in 2022 after 5 years with the Denver Police Division, in keeping with his LinkedIn profile. He described receiving a “hero award” in 2021 from Moms In opposition to Drunk Driving for his work in impaired driving enforcement for the state of Colorado.
“I’ve a sort A persona and like to achieve all that I do,” his LinkedIn profile mentioned.
Duarte additionally labored as a patrol officer in Denver, was extremely regarded for his work and was shut mates with different officers, the division there mentioned in a press release.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro mentioned he met Saturday night with Duarte’s mother and father and fellow officers who have been wounded.
“Their willingness to run towards hazard helped save the lives of others,” Shapiro mentioned on the social platform X. “I am grateful to them and all legislation enforcement who answered the decision as we speak in York.”
At a makeshift memorial on the entrance steps of the West York Borough Police Division, Linda Shields dropped off roses Saturday and dabbed tears as she considered her son, a police officer in Maryland.
“He was so younger,” Shields mentioned of Duarte. “It is unnecessary in any respect.”
Shapiro known as the assault on police and well being care staff “the act of a coward.”
Dig deeper:
UPMC Memorial is a five-story, 104-bed hospital in York that opened in 2019.
The capturing is a part of a wave of gun violence lately that has swept by way of U.S. hospitals and medical facilities, which have struggled to adapt to the rising threats. Such assaults have helped make well being care one of many nation’s most violent fields, with staff struggling extra nonfatal accidents from office violence than staff in some other occupation, in keeping with the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
In 2023, a shooter killed a safety guard within the foyer of New Hampshire’s state psychiatric hospital earlier than being fatally shot by a state trooper. In 2022, a person killed two staff at a Dallas hospital whereas there to look at his baby’s start. In Might of that 12 months, a person opened hearth in a medical middle ready room in Atlanta, killing one girl and wounding 4. And only one month later, a gunman killed his surgeon and three different individuals at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical workplace as a result of he blamed the physician for his persevering with ache after an operation.
What’s subsequent:
In accordance with the US flag code, Governor Josh Shapiro ordered United States and Commonwealth flags on all Commonwealth amenities, public buildings, and grounds throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to fly at half-staff instantly as we speak, Saturday, February 22, 2025, to acknowledge the tragic capturing at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York and in honor of West York Borough Police Officer Andrew Duarte, who died within the line of obligation.
The Supply: Data for this text was supplied by the Related Press.
