Safety

Boston hospitals experience alleged shooting, stabbings, and attempted rape

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The past eight days have been a particularly violent time for Boston hospitals, including a fatal shooting of a patient.

The following three incidents occurred:

On Tuesday, an off-duty security guard shot and killed a patient who had allegedly stabbed a psychiatrist just moments earlier in a medical office building owned by Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the Boston Police Department. The security guard didn’t work for the facility and happened to be in the medical office building at the time. The psychiatrist was expected to recover from her injuries, The Boston Globe reported.
On Sunday, a man was stabbed in the waiting room at Boston Medical Center after a fight broke out between two groups of people, The Globe reported. The victim was expected to live, and police had not arrested any suspects as of Wednesday.
On October 22, a man was arrested for allegedly attempting to rape an employee at Mass. General, according to Boston police. The suspect, a convicted sex offender on release, allegedly hit the victim from behind in a women’s restroom, slammed her head into the ground, and ripped her clothes before the victim was able to escape, The Globe said.

Subscribers to Briefings on Hospital Safety can download our past special report, “A look at healthcare workplace violence.”

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