Jul. 24, 2014 8:57pm Jason Howerton
DARBY, Pa. (TheBlaze/AP) — A psychiatrist who was grazed by gunfire from a patient at a suburban Philadelphia hospital Thursday helped stop the gunman by apparently using his own weapon to shoot and wound him, but not before a caseworker was killed, authorities said.
A patient opened fire after entering the doctor’s office at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital with the caseworker, District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Witnesses reported hearing yelling before the gunshots.
A spokeswoman for Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital said the facility has a policy prohibiting anyone except on-duty law enforcement officers from carrying a weapon anywhere on its campus. It appears at the moment that the unnamed doctor decided to defy that policy in order to defend himself.
But Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said that “without a doubt, I believe the doctor saved lives.”
“Without that firearm, this guy (the patient) could have went out in the hallway and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition,” the chief said.
It wasn’t clear if the incident has the hospital reconsidering its policy against trained staff carrying concealed firearms.
Several hours after the shooting, investigators had only limited information about what happened inside the closed office but believe the psychiatrist, “from all accounts, would have acted in self-defense,” Whelan said.
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