Two staff nurses and one emergency department physician were stabbed June 3 inside Encino (Calif.) Hospital Medical Center.
The alleged assailant, 35-year-old Ashkan Amirsoleymani, entered the hospital emergency department, where he asked to be treated for anxiety before stabbing the healthcare workers, police said, according to USA Today. The stabbing occurred late afternoon June 3. The suspect was then contained in a room in the emergency department for several hours where he barricaded himself with hospital teams, police and SWAT managing the situation, the hospital's owner, Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare, said in a statement shared with Becker's. About 8 p.m. PT June 3, the suspect was taken into custody.
Hospital leadership and other staff members "responded swiftly, exhibiting incredible heroism in ensuring the assailant was locked in a room, unable to injure others. No one else in the hospital was injured," Prime's statement said. "All patients in the ED and inpatient units received care without disruption which is an incredible tribute to the dedication and bravery of the Encino Hospital team. The primary focus was ensuring that patients were safe and out of harm’s way throughout the entire incident and that patient care was uninterrupted."
Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told NBC News after the arrest: "We do not believe he was either looking for anyone in particular or targeting a specific individual."
Mr. Amirsoleymani was taken to a hospital for treatment of self-inflicted injuries to his arms, and as of June 6, was charged with three counts of attempted murder and was being heldon $3 million bail, police said, according to USA Today and NBC News.
Prime's statement said the physician and nurses were stabilized and immediately transferred to the nearest trauma center, Dignity Health-Northridge (Calif.) Hospital Medical Center. They were in stable condition and recovering June 5.
"The injured physician is beloved by the community and has dedicated her life to caring for others, serving for more than a decade in the Encino Hospital emergency department," Prime said. "Both emergency department nurses have been providing care to the community for many, many years, skilled and compassionate in every way."
The statement added: "The entire Prime Healthcare family is keeping these dedicated caregivers and their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers. Support and counseling services have been arranged for any staff or physicians in need.
"Our hearts, gratitude and support are with all those impacted and our entire Encino hospital family."
The stabbing at Encino Hospital is among the latest incidents of violence on hospital campuses. Five people were killed and multiple others were injured June 1 in a mass shooting inside a medical office building on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa, Okla. On June 1, a security guard died after he was shot by a jail inmate who was being treated at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. The inmate fatally shot himself in the hospital's parking lot. On June 5, a visitor was shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries at Wayne UNC Health Care in Goldsboro, N.C., which prompted a lockdown at the hospital for nearly an hour.