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Man shoots himself with rifle outside Anchorage emergency room

Healthcare Security Weekly, March 14, 2004

With a rifle in hand, a man entered the hallway outside Alaska Regional Hospital's emergency room and shot himself in the head last Wednesday. No one else was injured. Police say the shooting was an apparent suicide attempt, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

The shooter, Thomas N. Gorsline, 45, survived, but hospital officials refused to comment on his condition last week.

Gorsline entered the hospital at 10:35 a.m. carrying a .22-caliber rifle and walked into a hallway leading to the emergency room. A hospital staff member sitting nearby pushed the panic button after seeing the rifle. The panic button prompted a metal door to drop down and seal off the ER entrance, police told the Daily News. Three security cameras monitor the area.

A male nurse reportedly tried unsuccessfully to take the gun away from Gorsline. Five people witnessed the shooting, police say.

The emergency room staff were shook up, but quickly responded and managed to care for patients through the ordeal, hospital spokesperson Kjerstin Lastufka told the Daily News.

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