Employee of Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg SC shot by patient
Orangeburg SC April 11 2019 A hospital employee was in critical condition Wednesday after a patient opened fire in the emergency department of Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, officials said.
Authorities said the gunman was a patient who had left the hospital while receiving treatment Wednesday morning. About 15 minutes later, the man returned with a firearm and shot an employee around 8:45 a.m., Regional Medical Center President and CEO Charles Williams said during a news conference.
The lone shooter surrendered to a hospital security officer about the same time as law enforcement arrived.
The wounded employee underwent surgery Wednesday.
Neither the victim nor the suspect have been publicly identified.
The gunman was still being questioned by investigators as of Wednesday afternoon, said Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell, adding that he expected the man to be charged with assault and battery with intent to kill.
A motive for the shooting and any possible relationship between the victim and the suspect were not immediately known. With the exception of the emergency department, the hospital returned to normal operations by mid-morning after deputies conducted a room-by-room search.
The patient first arrived at the emergency department for treatment at 7:30 a.m. He left the hospital on his own an hour later. Williams said the treating physician and a nurse tried to contact the man but were not successful.
“We did all we could to keep him,” Williams said.
When the man returned and opened fire, Williams said hospital employees relied on their active shooter training and quickly locked down the facility. Internal security officers, who are not armed, apprehended the shooter.
Deputies arrived within three minutes of the 911 call.
“That is amazing teamwork,” Williams said. “It is something that we have spoken about and we have trained and we have worked on.”
While the hospital’s security officers are not armed, Williams said Regional Medical Center works with personnel from outside agencies who carry firearms. He said hospital officials will review and increase security measures in light of Wednesday’s shooting.
Meanwhile, counselors and chaplains have offered support to employees as they cope.
“We’re family here. It’s tough, but we have people here,” Williams said, fighting back tears. “We’re working together to get through this.”
In Columbia, Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said shortly after the shooting that she had spoken with County Administrator Harold Young and learned that the injured individual was a nurse. She said the suspect was a patient who had sought mental health treatment.
Later, Williams declined to comment when asked about the shooter’s mental health.
“I think what is most important at this time is that we all pray for the individual who is lying in a bed right now wanting to be healed,” Williams said.
At the request of Cobb-Hunter, the South Carolina House stood and observed a moment of silence to pray for the victim and those involved.
“I don’t know if any of you have had the experience of being the victim of a random shooting,” Cobb-Hunter said to her colleagues. “Unfortunately, in Orangeburg County, there is a nurse fighting for (their) life because of a … shooting this morning in our hospital.”
Wednesday’s shooting was the first such incident at Regional Medical Center, Williams said.
Hospital shootings are rare. Yet, tragedies in recent years — including the deaths of a police officer, two employees and the gunman at Mercy Hospital in Chicago last November — have prompted some hospitals to review and upgrade their security practices.
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