Photo: The Canadian Press
This aerial image, taken from a video provided by ABC7 Los Angeles, shows emergency personnel in front of the Encino Hospital Medical Center, where the suspect stabbed many people and barricaded himself in the hospital in Encino, California, Friday, June 3, 2022 (ABC7 Los Angeles via AP)
A man stabbed a doctor and two nurses at the emergency department of a Southern California hospital on Friday and remained in a room for hours before police arrested him, authorities said.
The man entered the medical center of Encino Hospital in the San Fernando Valley just before 4 pm, said Los Angeles police officer Drake Madison.
The man parked his car in the middle of the street and went to the emergency room, where he sought treatment for anxiety before stabbing the doctor and nurses, authorities said.
Firefighters said three victims were taken to a trauma center in critical condition. Police later said one was in critical condition and underwent surgery.
All three were later listed in stable condition at Dignity Health Northridge Medical Center.
The first floor of the hospital in Encino and some nearby offices were evacuated, police said.
“We have moved patients out of the danger zone,” Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told a news conference.
There was no evidence that the man knew the victims, Hamilton added.
The man remained in a hospital room for about four hours as SWAT team members tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with him before he was finally arrested, police said.
He was taken to another hospital to treat self-inflicted injuries to his hands, authorities said.
The man’s name was not released immediately, but Hamilton said he had a long criminal record, including two arrests last year for killing a police officer and resisting arrest.
Benjamin Roman, an ultrasound technician, told KNBC-TV that before the stabbing he saw the man who had a dog with him and who may have been on drugs because he looked worried and was drenched in sweat.
After the hospital issued an “internal triage” code, Roman said he saw a doctor and a nurse stabbed.
“The doctor seemed to be in pain,” he said. “There was a lot of blood and it looked like … he might have gotten her belly.”
The attack comes just two days after a gunman killed four people and then himself in a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The attacker entered a building on the campus of St. Francis Hospital with minor problems, just hours after buying an AR-style rifle, authorities said.
The man killed his surgeon and three other people in a medical office. He blamed the doctor for his continued pain after a recent back operation.
Add Comment