Two patients were shot by off-duty police officers Thursday in two separate incidents — one at Garfield, Ohio-based Marymount Hospital, which is a Cleveland Clinic facility, and another at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Houston.
At around 11 a.m. Thursday, a "combative" patient was shot by an off-duty Houston Police Department officer at St. Joseph's Medical Center, according to a KRTK report.
Staff members on the 8th floor of the hospital contacted two Houston Police Department officers who were working security about the patient. When the officers arrived, they got into an altercation with the 26-year-old patient, according to the report.
A Houston Police Department spokesman, Keese Smith, told KTRK that the officers initially used a Taser on the patient, but when that had no effect, one of the officers "discharged a duty weapon striking the suspect."
The patient was shot at least once and was taken to the intensive care unit to be treated for his injuries, according to a KPRC 2 report.
The two officers were also injured in the incident — one has a concussion and the other has lacerations on his head.
Houston police and the Harris County district attorney are investigating the incident, and the police said Thursday that the officer who discharged his weapon did nothing wrong, according to KPRC 2.
The second incident, which also occurred Thursday morning, involved a patient who authorities also described as "combative" being shot during a scuffle at Marymount Hospital, according to a WKYC report.
An off-duty police officer and two Cleveland Clinic security officers used a Taser to subdue the 45-year-old patient. However, the patient grabbed the stun gun and used it against the three officers and a nurse, according to the report.
The off-duty officer then shot the patient, who was taken by LifeFlight to Cleveland-based MetroHealth Medical Center in critical, but stable condition, according to the report.
Marymount Hospital released a statement early Thursday morning saying the matter remains under investigation.