(Headline USA) A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit on Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said.
Three staffers at UPMC Memorial Hospital, including a doctor, a nurse and a custodian, and two other officers were shot and wounded in the attack, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said. A fourth staff member was injured during a fall.
Gunfire erupted after officers went to engage the shooter, who Barker identified as Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49. He said Archangel-Ortiz was holding at gunpoint a female staff member who had her hands tied with zip ties when police opened fire.
“This is a huge loss to our community,” Barker said at a press conference following the shooting. “It is absolutely clear, and beyond any and all doubt, that the officers were justified in taking their action using deadly force.”
Barker added that while the investigation is in its early stages, it appears Archangel-Ortiz had previous contact with the hospital’s ICU earlier in the week for “a medical purpose involving another individual” and that he intentionally targeted the workers there.
The officer who died in the shooting was identified as Andrew Duarte of the West York Borough Police Department.
“We all have broken hearts and are grieving at his loss,” West York Borough Manager Shawn Mauck told The Associated Press.
Duarte was a law enforcement veteran who joined the West York Borough Police Department in 2022 after five years with the Denver Police Department in Colorado, 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.
“I have a type A personality and like to succeed in all that I do,” his LinkedIn profile said.
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.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
