Police in Washington, D.C., are searching for a man charged with murder who escaped custody at George Washington University Hospital, according to The Washington Post.
The suspect, Christopher Patrick Haynes, escaped from the hospital around 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, prompting George Washington University to issue a shelter-in-place order for students and staff.
D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said Mr. Haynes was brought to the hospital after complaining of a preexisting ankle injury, according to a separate report from the Post. He escaped after officers did not secure one of his arms to a gurney as they were changing his handcuffs in the emergency department, according to Ms. Smith.
"He got out of the room because one of the officers removed one of the handcuffs from the suspect," she said during a Sept. 7 news briefing. "The suspect was not secured, from my understanding, secured to the gurney."
Under D.C. police policy, officers must ensure a suspect has "at least one arm or leg is secured to a fixed object at all times" when in custody at a hospital. Ms. Smith declined to say whether officers involved in the incident violated policy, citing an ongoing investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
George Washington University Hospital remained fully operational and is "coordinating with local authorities and monitoring the situation," a spokesperson told the Post.
As of Sept. 7 at 12 p.m. CT, Mr. Haynes had still not been captured.
Editor's note: This is a developing story. Becker's has reached out to George Washington University Hospital for comment and will update the article as more information is available.