RISKAlert Report Updated: Jan. 15, 2018
A 46-year old patient, identified as Andrew Merryman, was in a hospital treatment room with his wife on the 14th floor of the Center for Advanced Medicine at 10 a.m. Friday morning.
According to St. Louis Police Lt. Col. Rochelle D. Jones, Merryman pushed his way out of the om and pulled out two pocket knives, she said. As Merryman came down the hall, Jones called security and two officers responded. Two officers arrived and ordered Merryman to drop the knives. He refused, so both officers fired their guns, killing him. He died at the scene.
Police commented that Mr. Merryman was suicidal and had been treated for depression. Lt. Col. Jones said the guards were being questioned by police as part of the investigation.
Kara Price Shannon, a spokeswoman for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, said police are handling the investigation and directed all questions to them. “There is no threat to the public or our patients,” she told the Post-Dispatch shortly after the shooting.
LESSONS LEARNED:
- All incoming patients in emotional distress, should be wanded with a metal detector as
a condition of treatment. Weapons can be returned as the patient leaves the hospital.
2. A recent study by Johns Hopkins, discovered that most hospital shootings take
place in the Emergency Room (29%), and only 19% in a patient room.
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