Man shot at Spanish Town Hospital after allegedly threatening security guard with knife

By Kimone Witter    

 

There was a shooting at the Spanish Town Hospital in St. Catherine on Monday night after a man said to be of unsound mind reportedly threatened a security guard with a knife.

 

Jacqueline Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, says the man was shot by security guards at the Accident and Emergency Department after he refused instructions to discard the weapon.

 

He is being treated at the facility.

 

Ms. Ellis says the preliminary investigation indicates that the man was seeking treatment but became agitated when he was asked to wait. 

 

"So based on the reports I received, at about 10:34, a gentleman presents at the entrance to the Accident and Emergency Department. He asked for a psychiatric nursing aid. And so the security officer would have asked him to sit under the tent while she went to retrieve such an individual," she recounted, explaining that psychiatric nursing aids are placed in the department to provide support and care for persons with mental illnesses. 

 

"I believe he would have understood that. [But] within a few minutes, he came back and he began behaving impatient. And so he advanced at the security with a knife," said Ms. Ellis.

 

This led to the man being shot. 

 

She said operations at the hospital were briefly interrupted due to the incident.