Aultman Hospital patient care tech shot while working at hospital
(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information).
CANTON − An Aultman Hospital patient exhibiting emotional distress grabbed the gun of a hospital security officer and shot a 31-year-old patient care technician in the abdomen the evening of June 27, police reports said.
The female employee was in stable condition after the incident that occurred shortly before 8:04 p.m., the hospital said.
She was quickly treated at the hospital at 2600 Sixth St. SW, police said.
A nurse in the hospital’s emergency department called 911 at 8:05 p.m. and told a dispatcher that the woman, “a tech from upstairs,” was alert and conscious.
The man, identified by police as 36-year-old James Lee Fair, is charged with three counts of felonious assault and one count of aggravated robbery.
Aultman Hospital patient was acting erratically
The patient was brought to the hospital around noon, with staff placing him in a private room for observation. The man paced around the room in circles and repeatedly hit his head against the glass walls of the room, police said.
Hospital staff and two hospital security officers entered his room to stop him from harming himself.
The patient became combative and got into a struggle with the two security officers. He took the gun of one of the security personnel out of his holster and shot the hospital’s patient care tech, the police report said.
The security officer whose gun was taken later told police that the patient “grabbed ahold of his gun and he (the security officer) began attempting to keep his firearm under control but was unable to do so before the firearm fired one round,” according to the police report.
Hospital staff were able to wrestle the gun away from the patient and restrain him.
Patient taken to Stark County Jail
Police officers said they arrived to find the security officer whose gun had been grabbed by the patient “visibly shaken” and in distress outside the patient’s room. The officers entered the room and found multiple security officers restraining the patient on the bed as he demanded to be let go, tensed and twisted his body.
Police said they handcuffed the patient, placed him in leg restraints, lifted the patient from the bed and took him to the police cruiser to be transported to the Stark County Jail.
Hospital staff told police that the Aultman patient care tech was in stable condition and the video cameras had recorded the entire incident. Police collected as evidence the bullet that struck the patient care tech, her clothing, the gun, the security officer’s holster and belt and three Glock magazines. In the cruiser, the patient spoke to himself, yelled at no one in particular and repeatedly banged his head against the clear plastic divider, police said. A police officer said he had to keep close watch on him to prevent him from hurting himself before the suspect was booked into the jail.
His mugshot photographed at the jail shows the bearded man with his eyes closed looking upward. A criminal complaint had not yet been filed in the court system as of June 28, a Saturday when the courts are closed.
Aultman said the evening of June 27 it is still accepting patients for treatment at its emergency room as normal. And its emergency department is “safe and secure.”
“At Aultman, the safety and security of our patients, visitors and colleagues is our highest priority,” spokesman Jason Clevenger said in a statement issued the night of the shooting. “We are doing everything we can to care for a member of our Aultman family who was struck by a bullet in the line of duty at Aultman Hospital tonight. The colleague and family have reported that the colleague is in stable condition. The Emergency Department is safe and secure, and we are actively treating and accepting patients. We are working closely with the Canton Police Department to uncover all the details of what happened.”
Clevenger said the morning of June 28 that he had no additional information to release beyond the hospital’s previous statement.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital in Canton said in an email that as a precaution due to the incident at Aultman, Mercy Hospital was under lockdown for a limited time the evening of June 27.
(This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.)
Reach Robert at [email protected].
(This story was updated because an earlier version included inaccuracies. The title of the Aultman Hospital employee who was shot the evening of June 27 is patient care tech. Earlier versions of this article had the incorrect title).
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