Hospital where gunman took hostages remains closed to visitors as injured reported stable

Independent

23-02-2025

Workers at a Pennsylvania hospital who were injured during a shooting that left the gunman and a police officer dead were reported 'medically stable' Sunday as the hospital remained closed to visitors, according to the hospital.
Investigators were still piecing together what happened a day after a man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties headed straight to the intensive care unit at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead.
A doctor, a nurse, a custodian and two other police officers were shot and wounded in the attack at the central Pennsylvania hospital on Saturday, authorities said. A fourth hospital staffer was injured in a fall.
UPMC officials said injured staff members were 'progressing in their recovery' but visitors would not be allowed for the time being as the hospital beefed up medical campus security.
'We know that families and visitors are vital to helping patients heal, and we are working toward making visitation possible again,' the hospital said in a statement.
Authorities have said little about the shooter's motive.
York County District Attorney Tim Barker said while the investigation is in its early stages, it appears the shooter had previous contact with the hospital's ICU earlier in the week for 'a medical purpose involving another individual' and he intentionally targeted the workers there.
Gunfire erupted after officers went to engage the shooter, whom authorities identified as 49-year-old Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz. He was holding at gunpoint a female staff member who had her hands bound with zip ties when police opened fire, authorities said.
The officer who died was identified as Andrew Duarte of the West York Borough Police Department.
Duarte was a law enforcement veteran who joined the department in 2022 after five years with the Denver Police Department, according to his LinkedIn profile. He described receiving a 'hero award' in 2021 from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his work in impaired driving enforcement for the state of Colorado.
'Officer Duarte's bravery and commitment to upholding the law are a testament to the selflessness shown daily by those who have dedicated themselves to protecting and serving,' Pennsylvania State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who ordered flags be flown half-staff to honor Duarte, said he met Saturday evening with Duarte's parents and fellow officers who were wounded. The two wounded officers, from Northern York County Regional and Springettsbury Township police departments, were reported in stable condition.
'Their willingness to run toward danger helped save the lives of others,' Shapiro said on the social platform X. 'I'm grateful to them and all law enforcement who answered the call today in York.'
UPMC Memorial is a five-story, 104-bed hospital that opened in 2019 in York, a city of about 40,000 people known for its creation of York Peppermint Patties in 1940.
The shooting is part of a wave of gun violence in recent years that has swept through U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the growing threats. Such attacks have helped make health care one of the nation's most violent fields, with workers suffering more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.