A nursing assistant fatally shot a co-worker inside a Philadelphia hospital early Monday morning and then wounded two officers during a shootout with police, authorities said.
The 55-year-old shooter was still in his scrubs when he opened fire on the ninth floor of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital shortly after midnight, according to police. The motive for the attack remains under investigation, but police believe the shooting was targeted.
The victim, a 43-year-old man who also worked as a nursing assistant, was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.
After the shooting, the heavily armed gunman fled in a U-Haul box truck and was spotted near a school about an hour later, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at an overnight news conference.
Four officers with the police department’s 16th District division arrived at the scene and got into a shootout with the suspect, whose weapons appeared to include a long gun, authorities said.
“The male who was the shooter fired at the officers, and four of the officers returned fire,” Outlaw told reporters. “We learned that he was wearing body armor and was carrying multiple weapons in addition to the long gun, which was believed to be an AR-15. He was also carrying some form of a handgun, a semi-automatic handgun.”
One of the cops was struck in the elbow and another suffered a graze wound to his face, the commissioner said. Both were taken to the hospital in stable condition.
The accused killer was also hospitalized with gunshots to this upper body and neck, according to police. He was in critical condition but was expected to survive, police said.