A deputy shot and wounded an inmate receiving care in Houston's Ben Taub Hospital Thursday morning after the patient obtained an "edged weapon" and held it to a medical student's throat, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
Inmate Ricky Lynn Hall was taken to Ben Taub for an evaluation after having seizures, and had been at the hospital since Saturday. Just before 10 a.m., a deputy working overtime as a security guard on the hospital's fifth floor heard a scream. Upon entering the Mr. Hall's room, the deputy allegedly found him with his arm wrapped around a medical student's neck and a sharp object pressed against her throat. The Chronicle reports the sharp object was a metal band from headphones.
Mr. Hall allegedly told the deputy he would kill the female medical student unless the deputy shot him, according to the report.
As the medical student struggled and Mr. Hall intensified pressure against her neck, the deputy fired two shots and wounded Mr. Hall. It was not specified how many shots hit Mr. Hall or where he was wounded. He was taken into surgery for treatment of the wounds, which was completed before 2 p.m. His condition is unknown.
The medical student was not wounded in the attack.
Three separate investigations into the incident are currently underway at the hospital. Those are led by the Houston Police Department's homicide unit, the Harris County District Attorney's office and by the sheriff's office internal affairs division, according to the Chronicle.